Effect of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on the feeling of social exclusion: influence of the romantic partner’s face

Previous pieces of literature had stipulated that seeing the face of one’s romantic partner could help alleviate pain feelings. Other studies argued that transcranial direct current stimulation had the propensity to generate analgesia of social pain. This study therefore aimed to investigate the potential further combination of the two effects on reducing social pain. Forty ‘in love’ participants played the cyberball game (an inducer of social pain) while being shown a picture of their beloved one compared to one of their closest friend. Sham and anodic stimulation conditions on the right ventrolateral prefrontal cortex were administered to the entire sample. Electrodes were positioned on F6 (anode) and Fp1 (cathode) following the 10-20 international EEG system. After completing each condition, participants answered questions about their latest game experience. Both image and stimulation conditions were administered in a random counterbalanced way. No principal analgesic effects of picture or transcranial stimulation were emphasized by the repeated measures ANOVA. However, when anodically stimulated, seeing their friend was more socially painful to participants than seeing their romantic partner. Exploratory and secondary analyses pointed out that participants felt more positive emotions but not less negative emotions when seeing their loved one compared to their friend. The present findings do not support the awaited anteriorly reported or interaction effects. Though, they suggest that love might induce feeling more positively but not less negatively in such aversive situations, providing thus insight on the contribution of love in emotional experience.