Why do we get goose bumps?

Having goose bumps in emotionally intense situations is very common. Why does it happen?

Goose bumps are one of those phenomena that remind us that the separation between human beings and the rest of the animals is, at bottom, a mirage, something artificial. Our organism is constantly undergoing hundreds of physiological processes that regulate the way we react to our environment, in theory to better adapt to its variations.

However... in the case at hand, why do we get goose bumps?why do we get goose bumps? and how does this relate to our emotions? Let's see it.

What is goose bumps?

A summary definition of goose bumps is as follows: it is a skin condition in which the body hair stands on end, so that because the hair is very fine and short in humans, tiny "mountains" seem to appear on the surface of the skin. The hairs stand on endThe hairs stand on end, but we usually pay more attention to the part of the skin that forms the base of the hairs.

The straightening of the skin hair, known as piloerection in more formal or scientific contexts, is performed by small Muscle fibers attached to the base of the individual hairs.

Moreover, this phenomenon does not usually occur in isolation, but is related to changes in states of consciousness and, in particular, in emotional states. Thus, goose bumps have a physiological dimension and a psychological dimension related to emotions. another psychological dimension related to emotions. Below we will explore in a little more detail what we know about each of these two facets of getting the creeps.

The physiological mechanisms of piloerection.

It is known that the phenomenon of goosebumps, also known as horripilation, is a vestigial reflex that usually has an adaptive function in mammals in general, given that this group of animalsThe mechanism by which these goose bumps appear is known to be a vestigial reflex.

The mechanism by which these bumps appear on the skin for a short period of time is as follows.

1. Activation of the sympathetic nervous system

This part of the nervous system is the circuit of nerve cells that intervenes when certain stimuli from the environment make us react in a state of activation more intense than normal. For example, it is the type of contexts in which attack or flight behavior patterns are usually activated. attack or flight behavior patterns..

2. Stimulation of the piloerector muscles

These tiny muscle fibers are connected to the sympathetic nervous system and act as a bridge between the latter and the hair follicle, where they are inserted. When they receive a signal from one of the nerves, these smooth muscle fibers contract, pulling the hair upwards.

3. Change of the hair shaft

In the normal state, by default, the body hair is arranged obliquely. That is, falling on one side, instead of being perpendicular to the skin. When it is tightened by the piloerector muscle, the trajectory of the hair shaft becomes straightened, so that instead of being almost stuck to the skin, it is pointed. The tension generated between the skin surrounding the base of the hair, on the one hand, and the muscle fibers, on the other, causes a bulge to appear on the part of the skin through which the individual hairs protrude.

Why we get goose bumps: evolutionary functions

As we have seen, goose bumps are related to vestigial reflexes that come to us through a line of ancestors who did not belong to our species and who probably had much more developed body hair than we do. Thus, piloerection could make the difference between having more or fewer offspring, or between surviving or not surviving.. In particular, it has been an advantage for the following reasons

1. It helps to insulate from the cold

Among other things, piloerection occurs when the body is exposed to cold, so that the body hair becomes fluffier and creates a wider insulating layer between the skin and the environment. In this way, body heat is better retained, body heat is better retained..

2. It is associated with danger and reproductive situations.

Another usefulness of goose bumps, at least in our ancestors and in the rest of mammals characterized by thicker and denser body hair, is to provide the organism with a way to look bigger, which is useful in case of other potentially dangerous animals that may come close by. other potentially dangerous animals that may hesitate to attack or not..

On a social adaptation level, moreover, bristling hair is a quick way to signal to others that danger is nearby, since it affects the entire body and, as long as you look in that direction, it is easy to see.

On the other hand, sexual arousal is also capable of producing hair standing up, which can be associated with the need to communicate interest or to signal a certain status.. The latter is something that in mammals is intimately linked to reproduction, especially in the case of males.

The case of humans

In the case of humans, the range of sensations that we can have is more varied than that of most mammals, since our mental processes are highly enriched from contextual information articulated from abstract thought.

Therefore, goose bumps can appear in many situations in which a very intense emotion invades us, such as listening to music, being touched by a person, or even listening to a speech or reading a book. In this case, evolutionary utility loses its relevance: hair ruffling has no particular function, it simply exists as a consequence of a natural evolutionary process that has led to us (in the case of our evolutionary line).