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Episode details

Radio 4,21 Jul 2008,30 mins

The Pain of Emotion

Available for over a year

Vivienne Parry explores the similarities between emotional and physical pain. The pain of heartbreak has never been thought of in the same way as the physical pain of childbirth or breaking a leg, but brain scientists have recently discovered remarkable similarities. Thanks to new scanning technology, researchers have revealed that the same areas of the brain are at work when we feel both kinds of anguish.

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