Like the increase in heart rate when we are anxious, or the feeling of “butterflies in the stomach” when we are excited, goosebumps are simply the physical expression of a feeling. It is often a sign of an evolutionarily advantageous response.
Imagine you are on a quiet evening, with no one home, enjoying a cup of tea and reading Stephen King’s latest novel by the light of a lamp. Suddenly, you hear a prolonged creaking on the floor.
As he looks up to look for the source of the sound, he realizes that whatever caused it is beyond the dim light of the lamp, just outside his field of vision. The skin crawls and a slight chill runs down your spine.
This scenario is probably familiar, as goosebumps in intense emotional states are a common experience to human beings.
Naturally, there is a scientific process underlying this phenomenon, and everything indicates that it is a evolutionarily advantageous responsedesigned to alert you to a threat, explains .
Similar to the increased heart rate when we are anxious, or the “butterflies in our stomach” feeling when we are excited, goosebumps are simply the physical expression of a feeling.
Typically, surge a chicken skin and the hairs stand on end. This is a beneficial response for some of human beings’ evolutionary ancestors, since raising the hair can make them look bigger.
Think about a dog intimidated and growling. The fur along its back begins to stand on end as it signals whoever is scaring it — be it a stranger or a vacuum cleaner — to back off. So that goosebumps and goose bumps are an innate response to a perceived threat.
Unpleasant chills: when chills can be a response to danger
Much of the body tends to function automaticallywithout conscious intervention or direction, and the fear response is no exception.
When faced with a scary situationbe it a sudden scare in a series or when listening to a horror podcast, the sympathetic nervous system comes into action. This is part of autonomic nervous systemwhich regulates involuntary functions such as heart rate and digestion.
During activation of the sympathetic nervous system, messengers are released neurochemicals, such as cortisol and adrenalinewhich have numerous cascading effects, including increased blood pressure and dilation of blood vessels blood vessels close to skeletal muscles, to prepare the body for action.
In this process, the muscles surrounding each hair follicle, known as “hair removers“, they contract. As a result, the hair on the body is forced to stand on end and that characteristic chicken skin appears.
No, being caught by surprise is not the only situation in which the goose bumps and corresponding shivers down the spine occur. It is also a frequent sign that we are cold.
Once again, this is a function inherited from ancestors evolutionary. In animals with thick fur, this process would help retain heattrapping air close to the skin and, in practice, reinforcing its insulating layer.
Although this specific function is not particularly useful for humans, the sudden feeling of cold induces also a nice responsegiven the threat that the abrupt drop in temperature represents for the survivalduring which adrenaline is released.
There is. therefore, some overlap between physiological responses to fear and cold.
Pleasant goosebumps: why does your favorite song also give you goose bumps?
Sometimes, goosebumps appear without us being cold or scared. Have you ever had goosebumps on your skin? contemplate your favorite painting or when listening to a sublime piece of music?
This feeling may seem very different of those mentioned previously, as it is generally quite pleasant and appears in response to something beautiful. These aesthetic shivers areassociated with dopamine releasea neurotransmitter involved in reward mechanisms.
Although the exact mechanism by which dopamine release is linked to goosebumps isstill unknownthere are some convincing hypotheses. Firstly, dopamine can interact with some of the same receptors than adrenaline.
Thus, in high concentrations, dopamine could activate certain adrenergic receptorspotentially triggering a sympathetic response similar to that described above.
Interestingly, it has been shown that people who have this response to music have a greater neurological connectivitynamely between the region of the brain associated with emotions and the region responsible for processing auditory information.
It is fascinating how art can have a profound physiological effect. Horror music and films can both cause goosebumps, either by releasing dopamine and signaling pleasure, or by triggering the release of adrenaline and generating a feeling of fear.
Next time you’re listening to a scary story or enjoying the beauty of a movie, reflect on how your physiology is mirroring these feelings.
