Placebo Effect Could Mend a Broken Heart Too

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Original Article: http://neurosciencenews.com/heartbreak-placebo-effect-6486/

The research done by the University of Colorado Boulder suggests that a placebo may ease the emotional pain of heartbreak. The study took 40 volunteers who had recently been broken up with by their significant other. This study utilized fMRI machines in order to track brain activity during applications of stimuli. Each participant was shown a picture of their ex and a picture of their friend of the same gender. They were also given a hot stimulus on their arm to expose them to physical pain. These three stimuli were alternated and participants were asked to rate how they felt on a scale of 1 to 5; 1 being very bad and 5 being very good. The fMRI also followed their brain activity during this time. It was found that the regions of the brain that lit up in the fMRI were similar for both physical and emotional pain. After the initial testing, participants were split into two groups. Both were given the same nasal spray but the one group was told that it was a “powerful analgesic effective in reducing emotional pain” while the other group was told that the nasal spray was simply a saline solution. Once again, all participants were shown both pictures and had the hot stimulus applied to their arms. This time, the placebo group reported feeling less pain, both emotional and physical. Activity in the placebo group’s brains also altered. Brain activity greatly increased in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, where regulating emotions occurs. Participants in the placebo group also showed increased activity in the midbrain where the brain regulates painkilling brain chemicals and “feel good” neurotransmitters. This study says that these results may show how the power of expectation may influence how we feel and perceive events in our lives.

One thing that really stood out to me in this research was that such emotional pain as heartbreak is neurochemically real. Because the areas of the brain that experienced emotional and physical pain were similar (but not identical), the research may validate or support the physical pain that people often report feeling after an unwanted breakup. In addition to this, I feel that the findings from this research could really help people ease some of the emotional pain that they may experience. Because the power of expectations and hope may trick our brains into reacting to emotional pain differently, heartbreak could become a little easier to deal with. These findings relate to the Cognitive Theory of Emotion that was covered in class which states that emotion is based on one’s cognitive appraisal of a situation. If someone going through heartbreak has hope or the expectation of feeling less pain, their physiological response will match up, creating the less painful emotion.


Although this research may not be a groundbreaking study in science and people may think of heartbreak as something you just get over, I think it could be very beneficial to everyone. Heartbreak is something that almost everyone will experience and which really affects people emotionally and physically and could lead to the development of psychological issues such as depression. Therefore, the research findings of this study are very interesting and informative and could prove to be very helpful.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 30, 2017 at 10:56 PM

    When reading this post I was drawn to an article I had read in the past about a similar topic. The article was essentially stating that if you "fake it 'till you make it" in overcoming emotional hardship, people will actually improve their mental and emotional health significantly quicker than those who do not employ this tactic. The impact of reappraising a stimulus is significant in our behavior, but also has neurological effect. I find it interesting that the stimuli for physical pain (heat) and emotionail pain (picture) created activity in the same brain areas. Seeing as we learned that there are 3 types of pain in class, and that pain is relatively misunderstood at the receptor level, I wonder if these findings that the brain level is the same, maybe research can be conducted from there to aid in deconstructing pain further.

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  2. Valerie VainqueurMay 2, 2017 at 3:50 PM

    I really enjoyed this read. I actually watched a TED Talk by Amy Cuddy on how our body language shapes who we are and about how if we fake it till we make it we can overcome our emotional hardship, just like Shannon said. I actually think that if one really changes the way they think about their personal situation and find the positive aspects in it, it could actually help someone get through their break up. It is easy to get into that negative mindset and think of all the wrong things that happened. If one takes the time to pick out the positives in the situation, it may not be all that bad after all, it probably was needed. Not everything is going to be resolved or going to be understood, but I definitely think it is a step in the healing process. I also find it not so surprising that people that feel down during their break-up experiences the same levels of physical pain in a sense. I say this because if I am not mistaken, being in a state of mind where your really sad, depressed, and ect, that can also take a toll on your health. Strong emotions often bring physical changes to the body. For example, someone who almost always have anger related issues, is more likely to suffer from increased blood pressure, headaches, fatigue, and ect.

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