we all know what it feels like to be rejected by a friend, loved one or coworker. But did you know that rejection has actual physiological effects on your body and brain? Today Brett and I discuss the very real effects of social rejection.

 

Social Rejection

 

https://aeon.co/essays/health-warning-social-rejection-doesnt-only-hurt-it-kills

• social rejection = physical pain
• Naomi Eisenberg
  • Anterior Insula (AI)
  • Dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC)
  • CyberBall
• Baumeister: the more severe the perception of rejection causes ego-shock = shut down of emotional response

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/rejection

• Social rejection by groups you dislike and being paid to be rejected do not lessen the reaction
  • African-Americans rejected by KKK members
• Exercise and other behaviors that cause the release of endorphins minimize the effect
  • Crying releases endorphins as well

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180614212911.htm

• mindfulness helps deal with social rejection
  • mindful people have less activation of left Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex (lVCP) which is known to assist in top-down inhibitory regulation
  • connections between lVCP and amygdala and dACC are less functional in mindful people
• bottom-up regulation is better than top-down

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLHlfPTRekA

• Bottom-up: Perception directs Cognition
  • Information taken in through sense organs directs the construction of world view
  • I see and hear a mosquito and then construct a plan to swat it
• Top-down: Perception is constructed by cognition
  • Known information is used to construct a world view
  • I can walk through my dark house because I know how the furniture is arranged
• In top-down out of the ordinary or unexpected factors lead to negative perceptions