Research reveals the reason behind why we still get goosebumps

Digging deep into the “interesting system” of the skin, the researchers have found out the ‘actual reason’ why humans get goosebumps. Even though goosebumps protect the animals with thick fur at low temperatures, there was not any significant benefit from the phenomena in humans. However, Harvard University scientists have discovered that the cells that cause goosebumps are are also important for the regulation of the stem cells that regenerate the hair follicle and hair. 

Further elaborating on the ‘hair-raising reason’, the researchers have said that below the skin, the muscle that contracts to create goosebumps is essential to connect the sympathetic nerve’s connection to hair follicle stem cells. While the sympathetic nerves react to coldness by contracting the muscle and generating goosebumps in the short term, it would drive hair follicle stem cell activation and new hair growth over a prolonged period of time. 

The study by the researchers has been published in the journal Cell and is based on the observations made on mice and how various cell interact to link the activity among the stem cells with the outdoor changes. 

Ya-Chieh Hsu, the Alvin and Esta Star Associate Professor of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, who led the study in collaboration with Professor Sung-Jan Lin of National Taiwan University has called the skin system “fascinating” and elaborated how multiple stem cells are surrounded by diverse cell types. Therefore, Hsu said that stem cells have the potential to respond to a “diverse array of stimuli”. In the latest study, the researchers identify an “interesting dual-component niche” that regulates and modulates the stem cells. 

“The skin is a fascinating system: it has multiple stem cells surrounded by diverse cell types, and is located at the interface between our body and the outside world. Therefore, its stem cells could potentially respond to a diverse array of stimuli — from the niche, the whole body, or even the outside environment,” explained Hsu. “In this study, we identify an interesting dual-component niche that not only regulates the stem cells under steady state but also modulates stem cell behaviours according to temperature changes outside.”

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How does sit happen?

The study said, “The sympathetic nerve reacts to cold by contracting the muscle and causing goosebumps in the short term, and by driving hair follicle stem cell activation and new hair growth over the long term.”

(In response to the cold, the muscle (pink) in the hair follicle contracts, resulting in goosebumps. But in addition, the sympathetic nerve (green) releases neurotransmitters that target hair follicle stem cells (blue), causing them to activate and grow new hair. Credit: Shwartz, Gonzalez-Celeiro, Chen, et al./ Cell)

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