Tohoku University Cognitive Neuroscience Application Center

Social rejection is not only emotionally painful but also activates some of the same brain regions as physical pain. Yet, how rejection shapes subsequent self-evaluation and other-evaluation in front of others remains unclear. In our study, participants first evaluated themselves and others in front of an audience, then experienced social rejection, and finally repeated the same evaluations. The results showed that rejection led individuals to evaluate others more positively afterwards. Furthermore, brain imaging revealed sustained activity in regions associated with socio-emotional processing, suggesting that the impact of rejection continues to influence later self-presentation. Moreover, individuals who reported a stronger sense of rejection exhibited greater activation in brain areas involved in pain processing during the subsequent evaluations. These findings demonstrate that rejection not only hurts in the moment but also has enduring effects on how people present themselves and evaluate others, shedding light on the profound role of belonging and exclusion in everyday social life.
These research findings were presented at the International Conference of Cognitive Neuroscience 2025 (DING).
https://icon2025.pt/program/scientific-program

Yi Ding, Yuko Okamoto, Xiaoqian Chang, Mai Takagi, Momoyo Tsuchiya, Yumi Hamamoto, Kei Takahashi, Kohei Sakaki, Tsukasa Ishigaki, Motoaki Sugiura
The Impact of Social Rejection Feedback on Self-presentation: an fMRI Study
International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience (ICON 2025), Porto, Portugal, September 15–20, 2025.【 Poster 】
https://icon2025.pt/