Goose bumps
Encyclopedia
Goose bumps, also called goose flesh, goose pimples, chill bumps, chicken skin, funky spots, Dasler Bumps, chicken bumps or the medical term cutis anserina, are the bumps on a person's skin
at the base of body hair
s which may involuntarily develop when a person is cold or experiences strong emotions such as fear
, nostalgia
, pleasure
, awe
, admiration or sexual arousal.
The reflex
of producing goose bumps is known as horripilation, piloerection, or the pilomotor reflex. It occurs in many mammal
s besides humans; a prominent example are porcupine
s, which raise their quills when threatened, or sea otter
s when they encounter sharks or other predators.
. When a goose's feathers are plucked, its skin has protrusions where the feathers were, and it is these bumps which the human phenomenon
resembles. The term "goose bumps" is misleading because the bumps on a goose's skin do not qualify as piloerection, though birds do have the same reflex of extending their feathers out, a function that keeps them warm.
It is not clear why in English the particular fowl goose was chosen, as most other birds have this same anatomical feature. Some authors have applied "goose bumps" to the symptoms of sexually-transmitted diseases. Certainly being "bitten by a Winchester goose" was a common euphemism for syphilis
in the 16th century. "Winchester geese" was the nickname for the prostitutes of South London, licenced by the Bishop of Winchester
in the area
around his London palace
.
However, this seductive etymology does not explain why other languages use the same bird as English. "Goose skin" is used in German
(Gänsehaut), Italian
(pelle d'oca), Russian
(гусиная кожа), Polish
(gęsia skórka), Czech
(husí kůže), Danish
(gåsehud) and Hungarian
(libabőr). In other languages, however, the "goose" may be replaced by other kinds of poultry. For instance, "hen
" is used in Spanish
(piel de gallina), Portuguese
(pele de galinha), Romanian
(piele de găină) and French
(chair de poule). "Chicken
" is used in Dutch
(kippenvel), Chinese
(雞皮疙瘩, lit. lumps on chicken skin), Finnish
(kananliha), Afrikaans (hoendervleis) and Korean
(닭살, daksal). In Hindi/Urdu it is called rongtey khade ho jaana. The equivalent Japanese
term, 鳥肌, torihada, translates literally as "bird skin". In Arabic, it is called kash'arirah, in Hebrew it is called simply "duck skin" (עור ברווז).
The same effect is manifested in the root word "horror" in English
, which is derived from Latin
horrere, which means "to bristle", and "be horrified", because of the accompanying hair reaction.
s at the base of each hair
, known as arrectores pilorum
, contract and pull the hair erect. The reflex is started by the sympathetic nervous system
, which is responsible for many fight-or-flight response
s.
As a response to cold: in animals covered with fur
or hair, the erect hairs trap air to create a layer of insulation
. Goose bumps can also be a response to anger or fear: the erect hairs make the animal appear larger, in order to intimidate enemies. This can be observed in the intimidation displays of chimpanzee
s, in stressed mice
and rats, and in frightened cat
s. In humans, it can even extend to piloerection as a reaction to hearing nails scratch on a chalkboard, listening to awe-inspiring music, or feeling or remembering strong and positive emotions (e.g., after winning a sports event). Some people have learned to will goose bumps at any time they please.
Piloerection as a response to cold or emotion is vestigial
in humans. As we retain only very little body hair, the reflex now provides no known benefit.
In humans, goose bumps are strongest on the forearms, but also occur on the legs, neck, and other areas of the skin that have hair. In some people, they even occur in the face or on the head.
In humans, the areolas of the breasts of females typically show piloerection because of hormonal distribution, for example, when aroused or inside the maternity cycle.
Piloerection is also a classic symptom
of some diseases, such as temporal lobe epilepsy
, some brain tumor
s, and autonomic hyperreflexia. Goose bumps can also be caused by withdrawal from opiate
s such as heroin. A skin condition that mimics goose bumps in appearance is keratosis pilaris
.
temperatures. The stimulus of cold surroundings causes the tiny muscles attached to each hair follicle
to contract. This contraction causes the hair strands to literally "stand on end." At the same time, the tiny muscles that are contracting are causing a "bunching" of the skin surrounding the hairs, which results in the "bumps" in goosebumps.
In winter, when people get cold outside, they can experience goosebumps. This is the body's way of preserving its own heat by causing the hairs on the skin to stand up, thus reducing heat loss. Goosebumps are often seen in conjunction with shivering in these instances.
Ironically, people also get goosebumps when they are hot, or in the presence of extreme heat. The main reason for this is sweat
. As the perspiration accumulates on the skin, it naturally evaporates. As the sweat evaporates, it cools down the skin surface. As this process occurs, a dramatic temperature difference occurs and the body responds to the "chill" of the evaporation of the sweat and the "goosebump response" kicks in.
" response the body can employ in an extremely stress
ful situation. As the body prepares itself for either fighting or running, it floods the system with adrenalin, the chemical that speeds up heart rate
and metabolism
in the presence of extreme stress.
The fight-or-flight response pulls the physiological trigger. When sensing danger, the sympathetic nervous system
floods the blood with epinephrine
, a hormone that raises the body temperature and primes it for a physical fight. “The sympathetic nervous system also causes a reflex called piloerection, which makes the muscles attached to the base of each hair follicle contract and force the hair up,” says Horatio Wildman, MD, an assistant professor of dermatology
at Cornell University
. Goose bumps cause the hairs to stand up – just as porcupine
s raise their quill
s when threatened. When piloerection occurred in our hairy ancestors, it made them appear larger to enemies and kept them warm. Over the millennia, we lost the fur
but not that reflex
.
Goose bumps do not make hair grow.
, psychoactive drugs
, or money
.
The pleasure experience is driven by the chemical dopamine
, which has been linked to addiction
. It produces physical effects known as "chills" that cause changes in the skin's electrical conductance, heart rate, breathing
and temperature. The responses correlate with the degree to which people rate the "pleasurability" of music.
The new research has shown that dopamine release was greatest when listeners had a strong emotional response to music. "If music-induced emotional states can lead to dopamine release, as our findings indicate, it may begin to explain why musical experiences are so valued,” wrote the scientist
s.
Skin
-Dermis:The dermis is the layer of skin beneath the epidermis that consists of connective tissue and cushions the body from stress and strain. The dermis is tightly connected to the epidermis by a basement membrane. It also harbors many Mechanoreceptors that provide the sense of touch and heat...
at the base of body hair
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
s which may involuntarily develop when a person is cold or experiences strong emotions such as fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
, nostalgia
Nostalgia
The term nostalgia describes a yearning for the past, often in idealized form.The word is a learned formation of a Greek compound, consisting of , meaning "returning home", a Homeric word, and , meaning "pain, ache"...
, pleasure
Pleasure
Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...
, awe
Awe
Awe is an emotion comparable to wonder but less joyous, and more fearful or respectful. Awe is defined in Robert Plutchik's Wheel of emotions as a combination of surprise and fear...
, admiration or sexual arousal.
The reflex
Reflex
A reflex action, also known as a reflex, is an involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus. A true reflex is a behavior which is mediated via the reflex arc; this does not apply to casual uses of the term 'reflex'.-See also:...
of producing goose bumps is known as horripilation, piloerection, or the pilomotor reflex. It occurs in many mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s besides humans; a prominent example are porcupine
Porcupine
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...
s, which raise their quills when threatened, or sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
s when they encounter sharks or other predators.
Etiology
The "goose bumps" (also "gooseflesh", "goosepimples" or "chicken skin") effect gets its name from geese. Goose feathers grow from stores in the epidermis which resemble human folliclesHair follicle
A hair follicle is a skin organ that produces hair. Hair production occurs in phases, including a growth phase , and cessation phase , and a rest phase . Stem cells are principally responsible for the production of hair....
. When a goose's feathers are plucked, its skin has protrusions where the feathers were, and it is these bumps which the human phenomenon
Phenomenon
A phenomenon , plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'...
resembles. The term "goose bumps" is misleading because the bumps on a goose's skin do not qualify as piloerection, though birds do have the same reflex of extending their feathers out, a function that keeps them warm.
It is not clear why in English the particular fowl goose was chosen, as most other birds have this same anatomical feature. Some authors have applied "goose bumps" to the symptoms of sexually-transmitted diseases. Certainly being "bitten by a Winchester goose" was a common euphemism for syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
in the 16th century. "Winchester geese" was the nickname for the prostitutes of South London, licenced by the Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
in the area
Liberty of the Clink
The Liberty of the Clink was an area in Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames, opposite the City of London. Although situated in Surrey the liberty was exempt from the jurisdiction of the county's high sheriff and was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester who was usually...
around his London palace
Winchester Palace
Winchester Palace was a twelfth century palace, London residence of the Bishops of Winchester. It is located south of the River Thames in Southwark, near the medieval priory which today has become Southwark Cathedral.-History:...
.
However, this seductive etymology does not explain why other languages use the same bird as English. "Goose skin" is used in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
(Gänsehaut), Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
(pelle d'oca), Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
(гусиная кожа), Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
(gęsia skórka), Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
(husí kůže), Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
(gåsehud) and Hungarian
Hungarian language
Hungarian is a Uralic language, part of the Ugric group. With some 14 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken non-Indo-European languages in Europe....
(libabőr). In other languages, however, the "goose" may be replaced by other kinds of poultry. For instance, "hen
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
" is used in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
(piel de gallina), Portuguese
Portuguese language
Portuguese is a Romance language that arose in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, nowadays Galicia and Northern Portugal. The southern part of the Kingdom of Galicia became independent as the County of Portugal in 1095...
(pele de galinha), Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
(piele de găină) and French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
(chair de poule). "Chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
" is used in Dutch
Dutch language
Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
(kippenvel), Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
(雞皮疙瘩, lit. lumps on chicken skin), Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
(kananliha), Afrikaans (hoendervleis) and Korean
Korean language
Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing...
(닭살, daksal). In Hindi/Urdu it is called rongtey khade ho jaana. The equivalent Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
term, 鳥肌, torihada, translates literally as "bird skin". In Arabic, it is called kash'arirah, in Hebrew it is called simply "duck skin" (עור ברווז).
The same effect is manifested in the root word "horror" in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, which is derived from Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
horrere, which means "to bristle", and "be horrified", because of the accompanying hair reaction.
Anatomy and biology
Goose bumps are created when tiny muscleMuscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...
s at the base of each hair
Hair
Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
, known as arrectores pilorum
Arrectores pilorum
The arrectores pilorum are small muscles attached to hair follicles in mammals. Contraction of these muscles causes the hairs to stand on end - known colloquially as goose bumps....
, contract and pull the hair erect. The reflex is started by the sympathetic nervous system
Sympathetic nervous system
The sympathetic nervous system is one of the three parts of the autonomic nervous system, along with the enteric and parasympathetic systems. Its general action is to mobilize the body's nervous system fight-or-flight response...
, which is responsible for many fight-or-flight response
Fight-or-flight response
The fight-or-flight response was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon....
s.
As a response to cold: in animals covered with fur
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
or hair, the erect hairs trap air to create a layer of insulation
Thermal insulation
Thermal insulation is the reduction of the effects of the various processes of heat transfer between objects in thermal contact or in range of radiative influence. Heat transfer is the transfer of thermal energy between objects of differing temperature...
. Goose bumps can also be a response to anger or fear: the erect hairs make the animal appear larger, in order to intimidate enemies. This can be observed in the intimidation displays of chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
s, in stressed mice
House mouse
The house mouse is a small rodent, a mouse, one of the most numerous species of the genus Mus.As a wild animal the house mouse mainly lives associated with humans, causing damage to crops and stored food....
and rats, and in frightened cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s. In humans, it can even extend to piloerection as a reaction to hearing nails scratch on a chalkboard, listening to awe-inspiring music, or feeling or remembering strong and positive emotions (e.g., after winning a sports event). Some people have learned to will goose bumps at any time they please.
Piloerection as a response to cold or emotion is vestigial
Vestigial structure
Vestigiality describes homologous characters of organisms that have seemingly lost all or most of their original function in a species through evolution. These may take various forms such as anatomical structures, behaviors and biochemical pathways. Some of these disappear early in embryonic...
in humans. As we retain only very little body hair, the reflex now provides no known benefit.
In humans, goose bumps are strongest on the forearms, but also occur on the legs, neck, and other areas of the skin that have hair. In some people, they even occur in the face or on the head.
In humans, the areolas of the breasts of females typically show piloerection because of hormonal distribution, for example, when aroused or inside the maternity cycle.
Piloerection is also a classic symptom
Symptom
A symptom is a departure from normal function or feeling which is noticed by a patient, indicating the presence of disease or abnormality...
of some diseases, such as temporal lobe epilepsy
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...
, some brain tumor
Brain tumor
A brain tumor is an intracranial solid neoplasm, a tumor within the brain or the central spinal canal.Brain tumors include all tumors inside the cranium or in the central spinal canal...
s, and autonomic hyperreflexia. Goose bumps can also be caused by withdrawal from opiate
Opiate
In medicine, the term opiate describes any of the narcotic opioid alkaloids found as natural products in the opium poppy plant.-Overview:Opiates are so named because they are constituents or derivatives of constituents found in opium, which is processed from the latex sap of the opium poppy,...
s such as heroin. A skin condition that mimics goose bumps in appearance is keratosis pilaris
Keratosis pilaris
Keratosis pilaris is a common, autosomal dominant, genetic follicular condition that is manifested by the appearance of rough bumps on the skin...
.
Extreme temperatures
Goosebumps can be experienced in the presence of coldCold
Cold describes the condition of low temperature.Cold may also refer to:*Common cold, a contagious viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system*Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease...
temperatures. The stimulus of cold surroundings causes the tiny muscles attached to each hair follicle
Hair follicle
A hair follicle is a skin organ that produces hair. Hair production occurs in phases, including a growth phase , and cessation phase , and a rest phase . Stem cells are principally responsible for the production of hair....
to contract. This contraction causes the hair strands to literally "stand on end." At the same time, the tiny muscles that are contracting are causing a "bunching" of the skin surrounding the hairs, which results in the "bumps" in goosebumps.
In winter, when people get cold outside, they can experience goosebumps. This is the body's way of preserving its own heat by causing the hairs on the skin to stand up, thus reducing heat loss. Goosebumps are often seen in conjunction with shivering in these instances.
Ironically, people also get goosebumps when they are hot, or in the presence of extreme heat. The main reason for this is sweat
SWEAT
SWEAT is an OLN/TSN show hosted by Julie Zwillich that aired in 2003-2004.Each of the 13 half-hour episodes of SWEAT features a different outdoor sport: kayaking, mountain biking, ice hockey, beach volleyball, soccer, windsurfing, rowing, Ultimate, triathlon, wakeboarding, snowboarding, telemark...
. As the perspiration accumulates on the skin, it naturally evaporates. As the sweat evaporates, it cools down the skin surface. As this process occurs, a dramatic temperature difference occurs and the body responds to the "chill" of the evaporation of the sweat and the "goosebump response" kicks in.
Intense Emotion
People often say they feel their "hair standing on end" when they are frightened or in awe. Another intense emotional situation that can cause goosebumps is the "fight or flightFight-or-flight response
The fight-or-flight response was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon....
" response the body can employ in an extremely stress
Stress (biology)
Stress is a term in psychology and biology, borrowed from physics and engineering and first used in the biological context in the 1930s, which has in more recent decades become commonly used in popular parlance...
ful situation. As the body prepares itself for either fighting or running, it floods the system with adrenalin, the chemical that speeds up heart rate
Heart rate
Heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time, typically expressed as beats per minute . Heart rate can vary as the body's need to absorb oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide changes, such as during exercise or sleep....
and metabolism
Metabolism
Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that happen in the cells of living organisms to sustain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories...
in the presence of extreme stress.
The fight-or-flight response pulls the physiological trigger. When sensing danger, the sympathetic nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
floods the blood with epinephrine
Epinephrine
Epinephrine is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system. In chemical terms, adrenaline is one of a group of monoamines called the catecholamines...
, a hormone that raises the body temperature and primes it for a physical fight. “The sympathetic nervous system also causes a reflex called piloerection, which makes the muscles attached to the base of each hair follicle contract and force the hair up,” says Horatio Wildman, MD, an assistant professor of dermatology
Dermatology
Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its diseases, a unique specialty with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist takes care of diseases, in the widest sense, and some cosmetic problems of the skin, scalp, hair, and nails....
at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. Goose bumps cause the hairs to stand up – just as porcupine
Porcupine
Porcupines are rodents with a coat of sharp spines, or quills, that defend or camouflage them from predators. They are indigenous to the Americas, southern Asia, and Africa. Porcupines are the third largest of the rodents, behind the capybara and the beaver. Most porcupines are about long, with...
s raise their quill
Quill
A quill pen is a writing implement made from a flight feather of a large bird. Quills were used for writing with ink before the invention of the dip pen, metal-nibbed pens, the fountain pen, and, eventually, the ballpoint pen...
s when threatened. When piloerection occurred in our hairy ancestors, it made them appear larger to enemies and kept them warm. Over the millennia, we lost the fur
Fur
Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...
but not that reflex
Reflex
A reflex action, also known as a reflex, is an involuntary and nearly instantaneous movement in response to a stimulus. A true reflex is a behavior which is mediated via the reflex arc; this does not apply to casual uses of the term 'reflex'.-See also:...
.
Goose bumps do not make hair grow.
Music
Canadian researchers have suggested that when we are moved by music our brains behave as if reacting to delicious foodFood
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
, psychoactive drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
, or money
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
.
The pleasure experience is driven by the chemical dopamine
Dopamine
Dopamine is a catecholamine neurotransmitter present in a wide variety of animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates. In the brain, this substituted phenethylamine functions as a neurotransmitter, activating the five known types of dopamine receptors—D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5—and their...
, which has been linked to addiction
Addiction
Historically, addiction has been defined as physical and psychological dependence on psychoactive substances which cross the blood-brain barrier once ingested, temporarily altering the chemical milieu of the brain.Addiction can also be viewed as a continued involvement with a substance or activity...
. It produces physical effects known as "chills" that cause changes in the skin's electrical conductance, heart rate, breathing
Breathing
Breathing is the process that moves air in and out of the lungs. Aerobic organisms require oxygen to release energy via respiration, in the form of the metabolism of energy-rich molecules such as glucose. Breathing is only one process that delivers oxygen to where it is needed in the body and...
and temperature. The responses correlate with the degree to which people rate the "pleasurability" of music.
The new research has shown that dopamine release was greatest when listeners had a strong emotional response to music. "If music-induced emotional states can lead to dopamine release, as our findings indicate, it may begin to explain why musical experiences are so valued,” wrote the scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
s.