LOVE POTION

Fake therapy gives real relief from heartbreak

GOOD NEWS, lonely hearts: Diving into that pint of New York Super Fudge Chunk really is helping you get over him!

A new study shows that just believing you’re doing something to help yourself get over your ex can influence the emotional centers of the brain and lessen the sting.

Researchers at the University of Colorado-Boulder studied 40 recently jilted volunteers and found they displayed less physical pain and felt better emotionally — even after receiving a fake drug.

“Breaking up with a partner is one of the most emotionally negative experiences a person can have, and it can be an important trigger for developing psychological problems,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Leonie Koban.

“In our study, we found a placebo can have quite strong effects on reducing the intensity of social pain,” she said.

The volunteers brought with them a picture of their ex and a good friend of the same gender. While inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI,

nately machine, they were alter- shown the ex and the friend, and then felt a bit of pain on their arms through a “hot stimulus.” The fMRI showed similar areas of the brain lit up during both emotional and physical pain — affirming the ache of the broken-hearted is not all in their heads.

“Know that your pain is real — neurochemically real,” said senior author Tor Wagner, a psychology and neuroscience professor at UC-Boulder.

The volunteers were then given a nasal spray.

Half were told it was a “powerful analgesic effective in reducing emotional pain” and the other half were told it was saline.

They went back into the

emotional and physical pain machine for round two.

When it was over, those who were given the placebo felt less pain and felt better emotionally — and their brains looked better, too.

Activity in the brain’s emotional control center increased, while the area associated with feelings of rejection quieted.

When the volunteers said they felt best — after the placebo — the area of the brain responsible for creating feel-good chemicals like dopamine showed increased activity as well. So the researchers are confident their study showed that “doing anything that you believe will help you feel better will probably help you feel better,” Koban said.

“Just the fact that you are doing something for yourself and engaging in something that gives you hope may have an impact,” said Wagner.