COLUMBIA, S.C., Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Grief felt by women after a romantic relationship ends affects the brain in distinctive ways detectable by brain scans, a study has found.
Scientists at the University of South Carolina found that women who are particularly upset about the collapse of a relationship show greater decreases in brain-cell activity in parts of the brain associated with emotion, motivation and attention span, The Telegraph of London reported Sunday.
Dr. Ajif Narib, who led the research team, said the study suggested "that the brain activity associated with separation grief follows a unique pattern that is different from other types of loss such as bereavement."
The study, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, examined 11 women aged between 18 and 40 who had been in a romantic relationship for at least six months, which had ended within the preceding 16 weeks. All the women who took part were experiencing problems recovering from the split.
Existing research suggests that women are two to three times more likely to develop depression than men and that the areas of the brain believed to be linked with depression appear to be more reactive in women than in men.
