Now that we’re in the month of October, we’ve entered the scary season, when haunted houses creek, werewolves stalk, vampires creep and spirits haunt. It’s all in good fun, but some of our reactions to the Halloween scares provide interesting insight into how our bodies work. Insights into how our bodies have worked before there ever was an All Hallow’s Eve.
Adrenaline and ancient responses to perceived threats account for almost all of them, according to anthropologists. Some of the responses, actually, have become obscure but we still live with the processes imprinted deep in our DNA.
Among them:
Goosebumps
The effect, which makes us look like plucked birds (hence the common name), is one response that has outlived their original purpose. The bumps are caused by tiny muscles that are attached to hair follicles. When triggered by a stimulus, an involuntary nerve discharge causes the muscles to contract creating the skin around them to protrude, giving the appearance of bumps. When we’re afraid isn’t the only time we get goosebumps, though. Some people get them whenever they experience any strong emotion or get cold.
Scientists say goosebumps, which usually fade quickly, are directly related to our next effect, hair standing on end.
Hair raising
When muscles in those hair follicles involuntarily contract, not only do they cause goosebumps, but they also force the hairs in those follicles to stand up on end whether it’s on our arms or the back of your neck. Seems strange, but it’s yet another natural process that has outlived its usefulness. Anthropologists point to an outlived function that can still be seen elsewhere in the animal kingdom. In current canines, when cold, the follicle muscles contract, forcing the dog’s hairs to stick out. All those hairs raised together create spaces that make it easier to retain body heat.
Apparently, when we humans were much more hirsute, the same effect was beneficial and its remains with us today even though we can just throw on a sweater.
(By the way, the scientific name for goosebumps is “horripilation,” which stems from the Latin roots of “horror,” meaning “hair standing on end.”)
Flight or fight
When we’re scared or threatened, our bodies’ chemical systems go into overdrive. The adrenal glands dump adrenaline into our blood system while the pituitary gland unleashes an array of hormones and neurotransmitters. The end result is that heightened sense you get that either freezes you in place or sends you scurrying for safety “” the “flight or fight” reaction that Candadian doctor Hans Selye first described in the 1960’s in his book “The Stress of Life.”
Since Selye’s work debuted, we’ve come to understand the response better, tracing it back to the chemical cocktail our bodies release in times of fear or stress.
Our pulse becomes rapid, blood pressure increases, breathing quickens and peripheral blood vessels constrict making more blood available for muscles. (That’s why some people seem to pale when frightened.) Pupils dilate and sugar stored in your body (stored away for an emergency) start to break down.
The overall effect is a huge energy reserve and heightened awareness, fueling either a quick getaway or girding us for battle if we decide to stand our ground and fight.
Halloween certainly has its effect on us. Now that you understand what’s going on under your skin, maybe it will be a little bit less scary.
