Pain is a dangerous signal. When you place your hand on a hot stove, for example, a network of neurons in your brain activates to send a【C1】________: Something is very wrong.

Studies suggest that when we experience rejection, our brains【C2】_____similarly to the way they do when we’re in physical pain. In 2011, psychologists used a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine to scan the brains of 40【C3】__participants, all of whom had recently【C4】__an unwanted breakup. Inside the scanner, the participants gazed at photos of the partner who had【C5】__them, while thinking about the rejection.【C6】_____, the individuals focused on photos of close friends while imagining a happy memory of that friendship.

Finally, the psychologists scanned the participants’ brains【C7】_____they experienced painful and pleasant physical【C8】__: a hot (but not burning) object,【C9】__by a pleasantly warm object, placed on their arms. The results found that both the【C10】__of an ex-partner and the feeling of the hot object activated areas of the brain【C11】__with pain, but the photo of a friend and the pleasant warmth did not. A review of 524 other neuroscience studies on experiences【C12】__from pain to memory【C13】__the psychologists’ results. The same areas of the brain were connected with pain in【C14】_____88％ of the studies they reviewed, the team reported in the study.

Many psychologists think the experience of emotional pain “piggybacked” onto the already【C15】_____physical pain system in the brains of our early ancestors. The pain you feel after a fight with a close friend is quite real, but it’s not【C16】__the same as physical pain. We see that【C17】__in fMRI studies. The parts of the brain activated by these two different experiences have some【C18】_____, but they’re not identical.

General heartache may hurt, but the next time you’re【C19】_____the pain of loss or rejection, you can take【C20】_____in the fact that the ability to feel this kind of pain likely evolved to help us survive.

【C18】