Breaking up with your partner is like a social rejection and is as hurtful as physical pain.
Using fMRI scans Edward Smith found out that the same areas of the brain lit up when people saw pictures of their ex-partners or when they were exposed to pain via a hot probe on the arm.
Smith who is a cognitive neuroscientist at Columbia University in New York was able to conclude that breaking up with a partner is akin to social rejection and induces as much hurt as physical pain.