Very often our skin crawls in different situations: when we are a little cold, when we get excited listening to a song or being with someone we care about… On countless occasions this physiological phenomenon occurs, which we colloquially call “goosebumps”always involuntarily and without discrimination based on sex or age.

However, despite how common it is to get goosebumps or “the hair on end”, many people are unaware of the reason why it happens.

Pyeloerection

Although it is a pilomotor reflex little studied, it is known that it occurs in practically the entire body, except for some areas such as that covering the genitals, hands or feet.

Furthermore, as explained by the physiologist and zoology professor, George A. Bubenikto the magazine Scientific Americangetting ‘goosebumps’ is a response inherited from our ancestors that many other mammals also experience and has a protective function.

The reason why these hairs stand up when the outside temperature is low is due to the pyeloerectionwhich is produced by a small muscle under the skin. Specifically, it is an erector muscle found at the root of the hair and when it contracts it creates a layer of air around the body to protect it.

In this way, skin erection is the involuntary development of bumps on the skin, at the base of the body hair, which happens when we are exposed to situations or sudden changes in temperature.

The adrenaline

On the other hand, goosebumps are also produced by the release of adrenaline. For example, in situations of stress or, as mentioned before, cold, this hormone produces a series of reactions throughout the body and puts it on alert.

Just as it increases our strength or ability to respond to moments of tension, it also makes our skin crawl when we get excited or afraid.

The sympathetic nervous system

The last factor involved in giving us goosebumps is the connection between those small muscles in the skin and the sympathetic nervous system. This was concluded by an analysis carried out on mice by scientists at Harvard University and published in the scientific journal cell in 2020.

According to this research, when these muscles detect low temperatures, they tend to bridge between sympathetic nerves and hair follicles. In the short term, it causes the hair to stand on end and goosebumps to appear; In the long term, it appears to promote hair growth.

As reported The confidentialthe researchers maintain that this connection “is an important link between stem cellswhich the body can use to create other types of cells, and external stimuli.”

So, while the connection between nerve and muscle was already known in this specific system, the link with hair regulatory stem cells is a new discovery, and an unusual one, since neurons tend to prefer connections with other neurons or synaptic type connections with muscles.

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