From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-368083-647606
LOS ANGELES (UPI) -- U.S. researchers suggest long-term grief
activates neurons in the brain, possibly giving these memories of lost
loved ones addiction-like properties.
Lead author Mary-Frances O'Connor of the University of California, Los
Angeles, said that for some it's impossible to let go, and even years
later, any reminder of their loss -- a picture, a memory -- brings on
a fresh wave of grief and yearning.
The study analyzed whether those with "complicated," or long-term,
grief had greater activity occurring in either the brain's reward
network or pain network than those with non-complicated grief.
The researchers looked at 23 women who had lost a mother or a sister
to breast cancer. The researchers found that, of that number, 11 had
complicated grief, and 12 had the more normal, non-complicated grief.
The study participants looked at a photograph of a deceased loved one
while undergoing brain scanning by functional magnetic resonance
imaging and then a photograph of a female stranger.
The study, published in the the journal NeuroImage, found that while
both groups had activation in the pain network of the brain after
viewing a picture of their loved one, but only individuals with
complicated grief showed significant activity in the region of the
brain most commonly associated with reward and social attachment.