” Nostalgia is known to reduce people’s perception of physical pain. However, the basic brain mechanisms are unclear “Scientists say. Nostalgia as a pain reliever? This is according to a Chinese study published in Neuroscience Journal.
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To reach this conclusion, researchers at Peking University measured the brain activity of 34 adults using fMRI (fMRI). In the first group, the volunteers had to view pictures that evoked a feeling of nostalgia such as children’s toys, cartoon characters or candy. In the second group, participants looked at scenes and objects from modern life that were devoid of any sense of nostalgia. A pulse of heat was sent to the right forearm after each frame exposing them to different levels of pain.
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After conducting this experiment, researchers realized that the feeling of longing stimulated pain-relieving mechanisms in the brain such as analgesics. ” Our study revealed that the thalamus plays a key role as a functional link between craving and pain, suggesting a potential analgesic mechanism of craving. ”, explained the study authors. Thus, looking at pictures related to his childhood can relieve mild and low-intensity pains such as headaches.
