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![]() | This article needs more reliable medical references for verification or relies too heavily on primary sources. (January 2018) | ![]() |
Goosebumps | |
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Other names | Goose-pimples, goose-skin, goose-flesh, cutis anserina, horripilation, horripilatio |
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Goose-bumps on a human arm | |
Specialty | Dermatology |
Goose bumps, goosebumps or goose-pimples[1] (also called chill bumps[citation needed]) are the bumps on a person's skin at the base of body hairs which may involuntarily develop when a person is tickled, cold or experiencing strong emotions such as fear, euphoria or sexual arousal.[2]
The formation of goose bumps in humans under stress is considered to be a vestigial reflex.[3] Its function would have made human ancestors appear larger to scare off predators or to increase the amount of air trapped in the fur to make it more insulating. The reflex of producing goose bumps is known as piloerection or the pilomotor reflex, or, more traditionally,[4] horripilation. It occurs in many mammals; a prominent example is porcupines,[5] which raise their quills when threatened, or sea otters when they encounter sharks or other predators.
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