# What happens when a chill runs down your spine? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648 "2012-02-22T19:03:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GeoNomad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b77776/32.png) [@GeoNomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeoNomad)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2012, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/1 "2012-02-22T19:03:28Z")
When I saw the story of Whitney Houston’s ghost visiting her mother and ringing the doorbell shortly her death, a chill ran down my spine. I don’t believe in ghosts or anything supernatural but ghost stories and similar tales of the paranormal evoke this reaction in me. It seems I am not alone. Trying to google the answer to this question ran into more sites that promise to send a chill down our spines and no explanations. What is happening to our body when we experience a chill down our spine? Why is it triggered by ghost stories and tales of the supernatural? Ever curious, GeoNomad ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/2 "2012-02-23T07:15:02Z")
[Piloerection](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_bumps). ---
**Author:** ![GeoNomad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b77776/32.png) [@GeoNomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeoNomad)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/3 "2012-02-23T17:29:50Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > [Piloerection](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goose_bumps). I don’t think that is the same thing. This is more of the shudder that goes through your body and not the goose flesh that appears. At least to me it seems quite different. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/4 "2012-02-23T17:35:47Z")
> [@GeoNomad](#): > > I don’t think that is the same thing. > > This is more of the shudder that goes through your body and not the goose flesh that appears. > > At least to me it seems quite different. There might be a relationship though, with the shudder being the end response to the same nerve stimulation. However, I get occasional shudders that don’t related to any pilomotor reflex. But maybe someone is just walking on my grave. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/5 "2012-02-23T19:55:34Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > However, I get occasional shudders that don’t related to any pilomotor reflex. What do they feel like—can you describe one? I get those too, and I’ve been trying to figure out what they are for years. I have a few theories, but nothing definitive. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/6 "2012-02-23T20:00:21Z")
I don’t know. I’ve heard others mention them. It’s just a shudder, a brief reaction as if someone had put an ice cube on my back, but I’ve never noticed any particular trigger. My father got them, and so does my son, maybe it’s genetic. It freaked out my wife the first time she saw it happen to me (It would barely be noticable, but I usually intentional shake a little afterwards to get rid of the feeling), so apparently some people have never heard of this. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/7 "2012-02-23T21:06:55Z")
Does it feel uncomfortable or pleasurable? Mine start at the base of my spine, like an electrical sensation, and spread upward, usually culminating in a shudder or movement of the shoulders. I suspect that they’re an epiphenomenon of anxiety states. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/8 "2012-02-23T21:52:45Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > Does it feel uncomfortable or pleasurable? Mine start at the base of my spine, like an electrical sensation, and spread upward, usually culminating in a shudder or movement of the shoulders. I suspect that they’re an epiphenomenon of anxiety states. Mine seem to be at the top half of the back, and it comes all at once. If it happens once a year that would be a lot. It’s not an electric sensation, just an action I can’t control. Although I do feel like the nerves are still on edge or something after it’s over, so as I said, I do a little more shaking to just make that after feeling go away. ---
**Author:** ![GeoNomad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b77776/32.png) [@GeoNomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GeoNomad)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/9 "2012-02-24T15:02:50Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > maybe someone is just walking on my grave. The fact that many of us understand that allusion indicates it must be a pretty common phenomenon. Whatever it is. But it is interesting that ghost stores elicit the feeling and if nothing obvious elicits it, we say “_someone is walking on my grave_”. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/10 "2012-02-24T15:23:45Z")
> [@GeoNomad](#): > > What is happening to our body when we experience a chill down our spine? > > Why is it triggered by ghost stories and tales of the supernatural? It’s the feeling of the rational part of our brain shutting down temporarily. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/11 "2012-02-24T15:37:36Z")
When a dog’s hair stands up, if he is frightened or being aggressive, it often seems to occur preferentially along the line of the spine, so I think it may well be that this phenomenon is related to the human piloerection reflex. Of course, we do not see the goosebumps if they are on our back, and possibly there are no actual visible goosebumps, just the relevant nervous discharge, but you might still feel the effects. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/12 "2012-02-24T15:56:21Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > When a dog’s hair stands up, if he is frightened or being aggressive, it often seems to occur preferentially along the line of the spine, so I think it may well be that this phenomenon is related to the human piloerection reflex. Of course, we do not see the goosebumps if they are on our back, and possibly there are no actual visible goosebumps, just the relevant nervous discharge, but you might still feel the effects. I think it may be something like this. I don’t know what the trigger is, and this is just a subjective observation, but it does sort of feel like nerves being activated that have nothing specific to act on, and a shudder results. ---
**Author:** ![\_cc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e19b73/32.png) [@\_cc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_cc)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2012, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-when-a-chill-runs-down-your-spine/613648/13 "2012-02-25T13:13:33Z")
Everyone gets them. The link with piloerection is well known and often quoted, but to date I don’t think anyone has come up with a satisfactory explanation for WHY they occur from certain stimuli (i.e. listening to beautiful music and anticipating the “good part” that’s coming up).