Subtitles section Play video
-
Everybody feels embarrassed at times but nothing quite emphasizes the feeling, like a completely red face.
-
So the blushing serve a functional purpose, or as simply to embarrass you further.
-
Blushing is an involuntarily and uncontrollable reflex caused by the sympathetic nervous system, which activates your fight or flight response.
-
The release of adrenaline speeds up your heart rate and breathing, dilates your pupils and redirect energy to your muscles.
-
All these effects contribute to the feelings you experience when embarrassed.
-
But the adrenaline also dilates your blood vessels to improve blood flow and oxygen delivery.
-
Interestingly, even though veins generally don't respond to adrenaline,
-
the ones in your face do.
-
But this effect is entirely exclusive to humans.
-
The scientists still out on this one; even Charles Darwin commented that blushing is
-
"The most peculiar and most human of all expressions."
-
But there are some scientific theories into why we blush.
-
The main theory suggests that blushing evolved as a means to show regret or remorse
-
within the social codes of human society.
-
By blushing, we're showing others that we recognise we misstepped socially
-
and in many ways, it acts as an nonverbal physical apology for our mistake.
-
In this sense, blushing is purely social-based.
-
And it's much more reliable than a verbal or behavioral expression of remorse
-
,which can be controlled or faked.
-
To the people who see you blush, they understand from experience what you're feeling.
-
Interestingly, this aligns with another theory that our strong color vision developed to be exceptional at to deducing hue changes
-
and skin and as a result, emotions.
-
serveral studies have found that poeple who blushed after a social-mashup
-
are much more favorable to onlookers.
-
So blush! It's a helpful bodily signal with the face saving peoperty.
-
got a burning question you want it to answer?
-
Ask in the comment or on Facebook and twitter.
-
And Subscribe for more weekly science videos.