Living with Loss: How culture and neuroscience help us understand grief with Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor cover art

Living with Loss: How culture and neuroscience help us understand grief with Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor

Living with Loss: How culture and neuroscience help us understand grief with Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor

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 Death, dying, and grief are topics we often avoid but are central to our experience of being human. Today's guest, Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor, studies the neurobiology behind how our brains grapple with the death of a loved one. Although grief isn't a light topic, Dr. O'Connor walks us through this research in a way that is absolutely captivating. Throughout this conversation, we talked about what her research can tell us about the process of learning to live with loss. We discussed the role of community, rituals, and tradition in grief across different cultures and religions. We also talked about the history and rationale behind prolonged grief disorder as a diagnosis, and how the death of a loved one is especially distinct from other kinds of stressors. Lastly, we touched on emerging ethical concerns around grief, loss, and AI chatbots. Dr. Mary-Frances O'Connor is a Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Arizona. Her research focuses on the physiological correlates of emotion, in particular the wide range of physical and emotional responses during bereavement, including yearning and isolation. In her research, she uses methods of psychoneuroimmunology, neuroimaging, autonomic physiology, and virtual reality. She takes a clinical science approach toward the experience and mechanisms of grieving to improve interventions for prolonged grief disorder. Dr. O'Connor also leads the Neurobiology of Grief International Network (NOGIN), which brings grief and loss researchers together to foster collaboration and translate research into clinical impact. If you're interested in learning more about the science of grief and loss, Dr. O'Connor has also written two books: "The Grieving Brain" and "The Grieving Body." Topics Discussed: Grief/Grief as a Form of LearningGrief ResponsesNeurobiologyAttachment/Attachment NeurobiologyGone-but-Everlasting TheoryNucleus AccumbensMental StriatumLoss-Related StressorsRestoration-Related StressorsDaily Diaries/Ecological Momentary Assessment Dual Process ModelResilienceGrief as a diagnosisProlonged Grief DisorderMeaning, adaptation, integrationAffective reactivityKulber-Ross 5 Stages of Grief ModelStigmaCultural Differences in Grief and Mourning Papers and Resources Discussed: O'Connor MF, Seeley SH. Grieving as a form of learning: Insights from neuroscience applied to grief and loss. Curr Opin Psychol. 2022 Feb;43:317-322. [PDF] Hofer, M. A. (1984). Relationships as regulators: A psychobiologic perspective on bereavement. Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine (formerly Psychosomatic Medicine), 46(3), 183–197. Evstigneev SR, O'Connor MF, Wilhelm FH, Blum D, Slavich GM, Seiler A. Grief and bereavement: A pre-registered systematic review of neuroimaging studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2026 Mar;182:106535Stroebe M, Schut H. The dual process model of coping with bereavement: rationale and description. Death Stud. 1999 Apr-May;23(3):197-224.Mostofsky E, Maclure M, Sherwood JB, Tofler GH, Muller JE, Mittleman MA. Risk of acute myocardial infarction after the death of a significant person in one's life: the Determinants of Myocardial Infarction Onset Study. Circulation. 2012 Jan 24;125(3):491-6.Bonanno GA, Wortman CB, Lehman DR, Tweed RG, Haring M, Sonnega J, Carr D, Nesse RM. Resilience to loss and chronic grief: a prospective study from preloss to 18-months postloss. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2002 Nov;83(5):1150-64.Moon JR, Kondo N, Glymour MM, Subramanian SV. Widowhood and mortality: a meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2011;6(8):e23465.Bonanno GA, Papa A, Lalande K, Zhang N, Noll JG. Grief processing and deliberate grief avoidance: a prospective comparison of bereaved spouses and parents in the United States and the People's Republic of China. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2005 Feb;73(1):86-98. Lewis TT, Van Dyke ME, Matthews KA, Barinas-Mitchell E. Race/Ethnicity, Cumulative Midlife Loss, and Carotid Atherosclerosis in Middle-Aged Women. Am J Epidemiol. 2021 Apr 6;190(4):576-587. Garcini LM, Galvan T, Brown R, Chen M, Klonoff EA, Ziauddin K, Fagundes CP. Miles over mind: Transnational death and its association with psychological distress among undocumented Mexican immigrants. Death Stud. 2020;44(6):357-365.Yang Hsu B, Palitsky R, Maintaining, Relinquishing, and Adapting Bonds in Bereavement: A Qualitative Study of Grave Sweeping in China, SSM - Mental Health, Volume 3, 2023, 100219, ISSN 2666-5603. -- The Stress Puzzle is hosted by Dr. Ryan L. Brown (https://www.ryanlinnbrown.com/) and supported by the UCSF Stress Measurement Network, an NIH/NIA funded network which aims to better understand the relationship between stress and health by improving the measurement of stress in research studies. Learn more about available resources to support stress research at: www.stressmeasurement.org. Have burning questions about stress? Email us at stresspuzzlepod@gmail.com and we may feature your question in a future episode!
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