Science shows some people can't get over loss of loved ones

William Atkins
Tuesday, 01 July 2008 00:20

Science - Biology

O’Connor and her team of researchers suggest that women diagnosed with complicated grief have not accepted the fact that their loved ones are no longer alive.

Dr. O’Connor further suggests that these women with complicated grief had earlier gained a sense of  pleasure from their relationship with the person recently deceased.

So, when they saw a picture of the deceased person, their nucleus accumbens activates because they remember the pleasure from the association.

Further, O’Connor states that this test may help to clinically diagnose women as having complicated grief.

However, further experiments need to be performed before treatments, such as drugs, could be prescribed for such problems based on the increased activity within the nucleus accumbens.

This article is based on the ScienceNOW Daily News article “Why It’s Hard to Say Goodbye,” by Andrea Lu. The UCLA-led study will be published in the August 15, 2008 issue of the journal NeuroImage.