Sensitivity to Physical Pain Linked To Social Rejection

Psychologists at UCLA have concluded, in the August 14th online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that there is a genetic link between sensitivity to physical pain and social rejection. A gene that regulates the mu-opioid receptors in the brain that alleviates physical pain also kills the pain of social rejection.

“Their study indicates that variation in the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1), often associated with physical pain, is related to how much social pain a person feels in response to social rejection. People with a rare form of the gene are more sensitive to rejection and experience more brain evidence of distress in response to rejection than those with the more common form.”

Researchers examined the responses of 122 participants from self-report surveys on sensitivity to social rejection, after having collected and assessed their saliva to determine which OPRM1 gene they possessed. At the same time, 31 of the participants were examined through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while playing a virtual game of catch. They were told that they were tossing a ball back and forth with 2 other players who were also hooked up on fMRI machines; however the other players were computer generated. Eventually the computer players stopped tossing the ball to the subject.

"What we found is that individuals with the rare form of the OPRM1 gene, who were shown in previous work to be more sensitive to physical pain, also reported higher levels of rejection sensitivity and showed greater activity in social pain–related regions of the brain — the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula — in response to being excluded," said Naomi Eisenberger, co-author and UCLA assistant professor of psychology and director of UCLA's Social and Affective Neuroscience Laboratory.

Baldwin Way, a UCLA postdoctoral scholar and the lead author, states that the findings of this study suggest that feelings of social rejection may occur in the same neural connections that are alleviated by pain killers such as morphine.

Could such findings help to explain the complexities of addiction and lead to the development of more promising treatment options?

Genetic Link Between Physical Pain And Social Rejection Found

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Airfare Resolves Homelessness in New York City

“Since 2007, the city has quietly arranged airfare or bus tickets – one-way – for 550 homeless families. They have been sent as far away as India, Russia and Peru, although the bulk have been dispatched southward, to Florida and Puerto Rico. Recipients must demonstrate they have a family somewhere that is willing to take them in, and they are free to choose whether they want to participate in the program”. This “Greyhound Therapy” is not new and it is clearly being utilized in many other parts of the world on a smaller scale, but regardless, I simply cannot perceive that the intent is to benefit the homeless.

Besides the fact that homelessness exists in part due globalization, mass immigration, a declining economy and other such issues, an important factor to consider is that many homeless people have existing untreated mental health problems; therefore this solution doesn’t help them to get better and it most certainly maintains the stigma that the homeless and mentally ill are disposable. Instead this approach simply transfers a problem to another city to solve. It seems that the possibility of truly helping the individual is completely overlooked. For instance, with proper medication a schizophrenic could be reintegrated into society as an upstanding citizen.

However, New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg insists that housing the homeless costs far more money than a plane ticket. This may be true, but at what cost to the individual? Bloomberg is taking it even further by imposing a rental fee for some shelter residents and evicting others who disobey the newly implemented shelter rules.

“Recipients must demonstrate they have a family somewhere that is willing to take them in, and they are free to choose whether they want to participate in the program”. Where have these family members been all along that they so eagerly take them in at the call of duty? And, who will judge whether this so-called choice to participate is a well-informed one?

One would expect a better solution from the city that lays claim to the country's first homeless shelter in 1872, the New York City Rescue Mission. Let’s hope for more innovative solutions.

N.Y.'s homeless solution: a one-way ticket

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