Voluntary piloerection
Also called: Voluntary goosebumps · VGP
Giving yourself goosebumps on command, without music, cold, or fear. Nobody knows how many people can do it, but it seems rare. The muscles involved are not supposed to take orders.
How common
Can you do this?
How it works
Body hairs have tiny smooth muscles at their base, called the arrector pili. One muscle often serves a small group of hairs. When it contracts, the hairs stand up and the skin around them bunches into bumps2. The muscles are driven by the sympathetic nervous system, the same system that speeds your heart when you are scared. They fire in cold, in fear, and during strong emotion, such as a moving piece of music1.
Smooth muscle has no known link to the conscious brain. You cannot order it. Yet a small number of people can raise goosebumps at will, with no trigger.
The first proper study came in 2018, when a team led by James Heathers surveyed 32 people who said they could do it4. About 72% said the feeling starts at the back of the head or neck4. About 90% said the bumps appear on the arms4. On personality tests they scored higher than average on openness to experience1.
How the signal gets from the conscious brain to the sympathetic nerves is not known.
How common it is
Nobody has measured how common it is. The 2018 study screened 682 psychology students4. Of these, 120 said they could do it, but none described the real ability4. The authors say they have no reasonable estimate of the rate4. The 32 people studied in detail all volunteered because they already knew about their ability. So the study describes what the skill looks like more reliably than how many people have it4.
Try it
Most people cannot do this. It takes a minute to check.
- Sit still somewhere quiet. Roll up your sleeves so you can see your forearms.
- Bring your attention to the back of your neck, just under the skull.
- Imagine a shiver starting there and running down your back and out along your arms. Do not tense your muscles.
- Hold the feeling for ten seconds. Watch the hairs on your forearms.
- If they stand up, you are one of a very small group. The community at r/voluntarypiloerection compares notes3.
If nothing happens, that is the normal result. No known method teaches it.
Is it a problem?
No. People who can do it describe it as harmless, and the 2018 study calls it essentially benign4. The 2018 study used online questionnaires, not medical exams4. No link to any skin or nerve disorder has been reported. There is nothing to mention to a doctor because of it. It is a curiosity, not a symptom, and most people who cannot do it are entirely normal too.
Sources and further material
- Wikipedia Goose bumps What goosebumps are and what normally triggers them. Says the voluntary ability seems linked to openness to experience.
- NCBI The voluntary control of piloerection Online survey of 32 people who can do it. A screen of 682 students found none. The authors give no base rate.
Missing something your body does? Tell me about it.
Related oddities
Goosebumps
Tiny muscles at the base of most hairs pull the hair upright when you are cold, scared, or moved. In a furry animal this traps warm air or makes it look bigger. In a human the raised hair does almost nothing.
Frisson
A wave of chills up the back, sometimes with goosebumps, at a powerful moment in music, a film, or a speech. It is thought to come from the brain's reward system reacting to an expectation being met or broken.
Voluntary pupil control
Changing the size of your pupils by will alone, without imagining a light or doing sums. One case has been studied with modern methods. Older reports exist, but most describe indirect tricks. Indirect control by thinking hard is possible for almost everyone.
Heart rate control
Slowing or speeding up your own heartbeat on purpose, using breath, attention, or training. Breathing can shift it a little within minutes. A few trained people shift it a lot.