Thinking back to an old love, according to a British study, provides pleasure. And it helps to prepare for a new story.
Because remembering the ex, the moments experienced, the places visited together is not only a source of regret. Nostalgia (from greek nostos, return, and algos, pain) and memories activate the centers of pleasure.
A study by the University of Southampton's Center for Research on Personal Identity demonstrates this. Through an experiment, the British team of psychologists and researchers subjected a group of volunteers to a series of stimuli, such as photographs or music, which brought them back to important moments in their emotional lives, inviting them to reflect and analyze what they were feeling at that time.
The result was unexpected and surprising: in almost all cases people did not report negative emotions such as anger, sadness or disappointment indeed. The subjects in question were also able to talk casually about experiences that had made them suffer in the past. They all experienced nostalgia, and defined it as a mixed feeling of melancholy and sweet fullness of memories, which pampered them.
To explain this phenomenon, researchers have subjected the sample of volunteers to a functional magnetic resonance imaging, the brain was scanned at the time when the volunteers were prompted to relive emotions and particular passages of their old love story. Researchers were able to observe how they were involved and activated some particular areas of the brain mainly the prefrontal cortex, but also amygdala, thalamus and hypothalamus.
And it was in particular in the hypothalamus that the pleasure circuits were activated, the same circuits that intervene when you eat chocolate or when you have sex.
The conclusion they came to was that nostalgia for the ex gives a sense of well-being.
According to this study then, why feel guilty or angry if you think back to some romantic weekend, or you regard old photos.
Other studies have verified that rethinking old emotions has therapeutic value.
Those who can think back to relive moments of past stories, frames of stories ended without falling into sadness are those who have managed to process the pain and this makes these individuals very strong and aware of their capabilities. Self-analysis, asking yourself how you react, confronting the experience and imagining a new future is an exercise that is good for the psyche.
Looking back on a love affair that has ended does not necessarily mean that you are not satisfied with what you have now or that you want to go back at all costs. It may mean on the contrary that you have come out of that story, that you have metabolized it and have overcome the pain of grieving.
Instead, you are ready to evaluate with conscience and serenity what good you have learned from experience, ready to accept your own mistakes and those of your partner.
An attitude that benefits your self-esteem and helps you find within yourself the stimulus to build a new romantic relationship.
Thinking back to an old love, according to a British study, provides pleasure. And it helps to prepare for a new story.
Because remembering the ex, the moments experienced, the places visited together is not only a source of regret. Nostalgia (from greek nostos, return, and algos, pain) and memories activate the centers of pleasure.
A study by the University of Southampton's Center for Research on Personal Identity demonstrates this. Through an experiment, the British team of psychologists and researchers subjected a group of volunteers to a series of stimuli, such as photographs or music, which brought them back to important moments in their emotional lives, inviting them to reflect and analyze what they were feeling at that time.
The result was unexpected and surprising: in almost all cases people did not report negative emotions such as anger, sadness or disappointment indeed. The subjects in question were also able to talk casually about experiences that had made them suffer in the past. They all experienced nostalgia, and defined it as a mixed feeling of melancholy and sweet fullness of memories, which pampered them.
To explain this phenomenon, researchers have subjected the sample of volunteers to a functional magnetic resonance imaging, the brain was scanned at the time when the volunteers were prompted to relive emotions and particular passages of their old love story. Researchers were able to observe how they were involved and activated some particular areas of the brain mainly the prefrontal cortex, but also amygdala, thalamus and hypothalamus.
And it was in particular in the hypothalamus that the pleasure circuits were activated, the same circuits that intervene when you eat chocolate or when you have sex.
The conclusion they came to was that nostalgia for the ex gives a sense of well-being.
According to this study then, why feel guilty or angry if you think back to some romantic weekend, or you regard old photos.
Other studies have verified that rethinking old emotions has therapeutic value.
Those who can think back to relive moments of past stories, frames of stories ended without falling into sadness are those who have managed to process the pain and this makes these individuals very strong and aware of their capabilities. Self-analysis, asking yourself how you react, confronting the experience and imagining a new future is an exercise that is good for the psyche.
Looking back on a love affair that has ended does not necessarily mean that you are not satisfied with what you have now or that you want to go back at all costs. It may mean on the contrary that you have come out of that story, that you have metabolized it and have overcome the pain of grieving.
Instead, you are ready to evaluate with conscience and serenity what good you have learned from experience, ready to accept your own mistakes and those of your partner.
An attitude that benefits your self-esteem and helps you find within yourself the stimulus to build a new romantic relationship.