In a new study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers have found that the same brain networks that are activated when you’re burned by hot coffee also light up when you think about a lover who has spurned you.
In other words, the brain doesn’t appear to firmly distinguish between physical pain and intense emotional pain. Heartache and painful breakups are “more than just metaphors,” says Ethan Kross, Ph.D., the lead researcher and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.
“What’s exciting about these findings,” he says, “is that they outline the direct way in which emotional experiences can be linked to the body.” Past traumas can make people more sensitive to pain.
http://news.health.com/2011/03/28/pain-rejection/
True that.
In other words, the brain doesn’t appear to firmly distinguish between physical pain and intense emotional pain. Heartache and painful breakups are “more than just metaphors,” says Ethan Kross, Ph.D., the lead researcher and an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor.
“What’s exciting about these findings,” he says, “is that they outline the direct way in which emotional experiences can be linked to the body.” Past traumas can make people more sensitive to pain.
http://news.health.com/2011/03/28/pain-rejection/
True that.
These new emoticons are pretty gay 
