Goosebumps, also known as horripilation or piloerections, occur when your sympathetic nervous system triggers the tiny muscles located at the base of each hair follicle — the arrector pili muscles — to contract. That muscle contraction causes the hair to stand on end1. Goosebumps tend to form when you’re cold. They also form when you experience a strong emotional feeling, such as extreme fear, sadness, joy, and sexual arousal. Goosebumps may also occur during times of physical exertion2.
Some scientists have suggested that goosebumps are an evolutionary holdover from our early (hairier) ancestors, who kept themselves warm through an endothermic layer of heat they retained immediately beneath the hairs of their skin3. The formation of goose bumps in humans under stress is considered to be a vestigial reflex. Its function in other apes is to raise the body’s hair, and would have made human ancestors appear larger to scare off predators or to increase the amount of air trapped in the fur to make it more insulating4.
Goosebumps are something your body does automatically when you’re feeling strong emotions like fear, excitement, or even when you’re cold. It’s controlled by a part of your nervous system that you can’t directly control, called the autonomic nervous system.
The reason why we get goosebumps goes way back to our ancient ancestors and even to animals with lots of hair or fur. When these animals get cold, their fur stands up to trap more air. This air acts like insulation, helping them stay warm. Or, if they’re scared or need to look bigger to scare off enemies, their fur puffs up.
Humans don’t have much body hair, but we still have tiny muscles at the base of each hair that can make the hair stand up. When these muscles pull the hairs up, we get goosebumps.
So, goosebumps are like a leftover trait from when our far-off ancestors had a lot more body hair. Even though we don’t need them much today, our bodies still react this way when we’re chilly or experiencing strong emotions.
Goosebumps are the result of piloerection, a temporary raising of the hairs on the surface of the skin that occurs when the piloerector muscles contract. Piloerection is a voluntary response directed by the sympathetic nervous system (the one that triggers the “fight or flight” response), and is elicited by cold, fear or a startling experience. Goosebumps are not only elicited by cold or fear but by emotional experiences because your emotional brain is primal. This is why you can get goosebumps when listening to particular songs or extreme feelings. You can learn more about goosebumps and the reason for getting them here: https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/goosebumps.htm
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