Meijden, E.A. van der (2012) The brain activity patterns of a broken heart An fMRI study investigating the brain activity patterns of young heterosexual women who recently experienced the breakup of a romantic relationship. thesis, Medicine.
Full text available on request.Abstract
The breakup of a romantic relationship is often experienced as highly distressful, leading to complex emotional and physiological changes. It is suggested that the breakup of a romantic relationship is an event that forms a risk factor for the development of depression. Three earlier studies examined the brain activity patterns associated with distress following breakup, unfortunately reaching contradictive results. In our study, we aimed to determine the brain activity patterns following the breakup of a romantic relationship in 21 young heterosexual women, using fMRI. The fMRI paradigm comprised an external and internal task to induce breakup related brain activity patterns. In the external task, photographs of the ex-partner were used as breakup stimuli and photographs of an acquaintance as control stimuli. In the internal task, we used ruminating thoughts about the ex-partner as breakup stimuli and ruminating thoughts about an acquaintance as control stimuli. The mean age of the participants was 22.2 years (± 1.9 SD) and the median of the relationship duration was 24.0 months (14.5-42.0 IR (interquartile range)). The mean score on the Major Depression Inventory indicated mild depression. In the external task, we found several brain areas that decreased in activity in relation to the photograph of the ex-partner. These were areas of the limbic system, as the prefrontal cortex and insula. Other areas with decreased activity were the left precuneus, right inferior parietal lobule, temporal areas and areas on the pre- and postcentral gyrus. The decrease in activity of the prefrontal cortex is found in depression as well, but from our results it can not be concluded that the breakup of a romantic relationship is a depression prone event. However, our results imply a suppression of the emotional and social brain during distress following breakup.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Thesis) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Horst, Prof. Dr. Gert J. ter and NeuroImaging Center, BCN and Antonius Deusinglaan 2 and 9713 AW Groningen |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2020 10:48 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2020 10:48 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/955 |
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