Why do we get ‘chills’ when watching or hearing emotional or moving things?
In: Biology
In your body, you have essentially two different “nervous systems”, the “Somatic Nervous System” (SNS) that involves VOLUNTARY movements and sensations, meaning your brain purposely commands them and the “Autonomic Nervous System” (ANS) that involves ***involuntary*** actions, like breathing, blinking, sweating etc. that happen without you having to think about it. Some types of emotional responses can trigger the ANS to engage the SNS, for example when you are in danger and you need to “fight or flight” to save yourself or if you think you might be engaging in sex. When you feel “the chills”, it is that crossover event of your ANS triggering your SNS to prepare your body for what it thinks might happen. So your blood vessels dilate (to get more blood to the muscles if necessary), your body hairs raise up to allow more air to cool your blood, your breathing and heart rate increase etc.
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