Author of The Grieving Brain explores what scientists know about how our brain grapples with the loss of a loved one.
Mary-Frances O'Connor is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry who researches the physical and emotional responses to grief. According to O'Connor, a neuroscientist, grief is an immediate emotional state that knocks you off your feet like a wave. While grieving is a form of adaptive learning over time - a period when the brain is changing and teaching us how to adapt to the absence.