"Images Show a Snub Really Is Like Kick in the Gut"

"The feeling is familiar to anyone who has been passed over in picking teams or snubbed at a party -- a sickening, almost painful feeling in the stomach. Well, it turns out that "kicked in the gut" feeling is real, U.S. scientists said on Thursday. Brain imaging studies show that a social snub affects the brain precisely the way visceral pain does. "When someone hurts your feelings, it really hurts you.""

In the experiment, the volunteers were asked to play a computer game. They believed they were playing two other people, but in fact played a set computer program.

"It looked like a ball being thrown around between the three people," Lieberman said.

Eventually, the game excludes the player. "For the next 45 throws they don't get thrown the ball," Lieberman said.

"It is just heartbreaking to watch. They keep indicating that they are ready to be thrown to.