What happens to your brain when you get jealous?

Jealousy. It’s an emotion we’ve all experienced at some point. Maybe it was when you were scrolling through Facebook seeing photos of your friends in Europe. Or when your coworker got the promotion you really wanted. Or perhaps it was when your girlfriend laughed at a joke from that really attractive guy at a party. Or maybe it’s all of the above?Whatever the trigger, jealousy is not a new construct. In fact, jealousy has been documented throughout Greek mythology, Shakespearian times (referred to as the ‘green eyed monster’) and is still enormously prevalent in today’s society. Jealousy may present itself in a variety of different ways. Whether it is sadness, anger or anxiety, one thing is for certain and that is that jealousy can be very powerful.While most people are familiar with the sensation of jealousy – it can vary in intensity from person to person. For some, it may be a sickly twinge that, while uncomfortable to sit with, passes quickly and doesn’t impact oneself, or relationships greatly. For others, it can result in psychological hardship, the ending of a relationship or even domestic violence.To learn more about the behavioural and physiological changes elicited by jealousy, a team of researchers conducted a study looking at monkeys. Coppery titi monkeys (the type of monkey examined) appear to be monogamous in nature – in fact they often exhibit behaviours indicitative of jealousy, very similarly to humans. For example, male monkeys will often become distressed when separated from their ‘mate’. Additionally male monkeys will often attempt to restrain or block another male monkey from interacting with their mate.The researchers attempted to elicit a ‘jealousy’ response in male monkeys by allowing them to view their mate in close proximity to a stronger male intruder and examining the neurobiological changes that resulted from this occurrence. Following this event, there was heightened activity in the cingulate cortex, an area of the brain associated with social pain and in the lateral septum, a brain area associated with pair bonding.There were also higher levels of testosterone present providing an understanding to the aggression exhibited in partners when feelings of jealousy arise. Additionally there was also an increase in plasma cortisol concentrations – which may be responsible for eliciting a stress response or a state of heightened anxiety in response to jealousy.So it seems that jealousy is an emotion that is hardwired into us and seems to effect most people to some degree. While jealousy can be quite damaging, both intrapersonally as well as interpersonally, understanding the why and how of its neurobiological constructs is a step in the right direction in learning to exercise control over this powerful construct.