Why does your human skin develop goosebumps bumps when you hear an emotionally intense song or experience a sudden chill?

Question

My arm hair stands perfectly straight up and my skin forms thousands of microscopic bumps when I listen to an orchestral crescendo or step into a cold breeze. What muscle group triggers this?

NeuroCenter · Answer

This is an involuntary sympathetic nervous reflex inherited from mammalian ancestors. Microscopic muscles called arrector pili pull individual hair follicles vertical. In ancestral mammals this actions trapped a layer of warm air insulation or made the animal look larger to threats.

Why does your human skin develop goosebumps bumps when you hear an emotionally intense song or experience a sudden chill?

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