When our cheeks go red with embarrassment, shame, or even pleasure, people say we are blushing!
Tiny blood vessels (capillaries) under the skin open wide to let lots of blood run through. Blushing is one of the ways the body has for keeping the blood it sends to the brain at the correct temperature.
Blushing is understood to be universal among humans, as well as exclusive to our species. Described by Charles Darwin as “the most peculiar and most human of all expressions,” in 1872, the phenomenon of blushing is still not fully understood by scientists. In his paper titled ‘The Puzzle of Blushing,’ Professor Ray Crozier, a Fellow of the British Psychological Society, called blushing a “ubiquitous yet little-understood phenomenon” that is both involuntary and uncontrollable. “An actor might simulate a smile, laughter or a frown, but not a blush,” he said.
But, what we do know is that blushing goes hand-in-hand with embarrassment, and as such, is physiologically governed by the sympathetic nervous system, which is also responsible for our fight-or-flight response. When we’re embarrassed, our body releases adrenaline, which causes our blood vessels to dilate, in a bid to improve blood-flow and oxygen delivery. And, blood vessels in our cheeks are wider and closer to the surface, than other parts of the body — creating the reddened appearance. “As more blood flushes the face, a red complexion and the sensation of warmth develops,” Dr. Tanya Azarani, an adult psychiatrist and psychotherapist in Brooklyn, told The New York Times, explaining why blushing accompanies feelings of shame, self-consciousness, or anger.
Interestingly, “the more anxious we feel about our blushing, the more neurologically aroused we become, and the more neurologically aroused we are, the more we blush, leading to a vicious self-perpetuating cycle,” Dr. Azarani said. Basically, blushing appears to beget more blushing, especially if we try to hold it back. According to a 2009 study, if one is simply told that they are blushing, when they actually weren’t, can end up inducing it. Also, “believing that one will blush can act as a self-fulfilling prophecy,” the study notes.
Credit : Swaddle
Picture Credit : Google
