What physically happens when you get a “chill down your spine”?

Question

What physically happens when you get a “chill down your spine”?

In: 25

Answer 1

There’s an actual medical term for it: a frisson!

It’s not exactly known what causes it, but it seems to involve your brain’s reward system triggering a response from your sympathetic nervous system, the part of your nervous system that’s involved in fight-or-flight. It also might involve the opioid receptors in your nervous system.

It’s a highly individualized response — that is, it’s different for everyone.