Why Do We Get Goose Bumps?
Fear can do strange things to a person. Perhaps you run, shout, or hide under a blanket. These are choices we make when we're scared, but meanwhile our bodies are already busy with their reflex reactions.
Goose bumps are just one of these reflexes. You will almost certainly have experienced them, but what is actually happening inside our bodies when those little bumps rise up on our skin and our hairs stand on end?
They're known as goose bumps because they look a bit like the bumpy flesh of a goose, and the medical term cutis anserine reflects this, meaning "goose skin" in Latin.
They can also be a response to cold and to feelings like pride or excitement, or to a moving piece of music or art.
Our sympathetic nervous system is in charge of goose bumps, as well as sweating and our "fight-or-flight" response to danger.
The nerves cause tiny muscles under the skin to flex slightly, making the hair follicles rise up.
But are these goose bumps useful?
When we're cold, yes, they may help to keep us very slightly warmer. The flexes of those small muscles generate a small amount of heat and the hairs standing on end create a thin layer of air that helps us to hold on to some body heat.
But goose bumps don't do anything to calm our fear. Experts say that the response is probably a leftover from our "evolutionary ancestors" — but that it has no real purpose now.
Animals use their bodies in similar ways when they're challenged to make themselves look bigger — think of a cat with its hair standing on end. Hairier early humans may have done a similar thing with their hair long ago.
So, in time we may evolve to lose goose bumps. But they may actually be more useful than we imagined — in 2020, scientists suggested that the muscle and nerve cells that cause goose bumps could be used to help reverse hair loss.
Perhaps there is more to come from those little bumps!
