I’ve always wondered why I get the chills and/or goosebumps when watching singers performing and they either hit a high note or the song is so soulful and emotional. I love the feeling and would love an explanation. Thank you!
In: Biology
The sympathetic nervous system (your fight or flight response) activates automatically during certain heightened emotions. It’s a general body system for dealing with intense feelings, as nine times out of ten an animal that is feeling that emotional is probably scared and in danger. It’s better to be prepared to fight for your life and overreact to any heightened emotion, even if that emotion is a good one.
The chills come from your body pulling blood to your muscles and away from your skin (which gets cold, hence the chills) and from your stomach (causing the butterfly feeling). Goosebumps are an evolutionary leftover from when we had more fur: the bumps caused our ancestors’ fur to stand up, making us look bigger (great for dissuading predators) and for retaining heat by trapping more air (great for dealing with the cold and for helping your muscles stay warm in case you need to run).
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