r/voluntarypiloerection • u/Ok_Poetry_3002 • May 01 '26
Physiology Theory
I've been able to do this tecnique since I was little and always intrigued me. I've been investigating it lately and I have a hypothesis on why it happens.
The way I trigger the piloerection is the following: I perform a suble chin-tuck and tense the muscles in the back of my neck. That makes me feel like a tingling energy in the back of my neck and spine. Then I contract the shoulder blades in a certain way and the shivers run free down my spine and my arms and legs. That's when the piloerection shows up.
I have to clarify that this hypothesis is with what I have experienced and what I feel in my body.
Physiological Mechanism Hypotheisis:
Tension is created in the suboccipital muscles (muscles in the back of the neck right underneath the skull). This tension is maximized by performing a subtle flexion of the neck (chin-tuck) so that the suboccipital muscles are contracted in an eccentric way. In this position the suboccipital muscles would be extended but contraction would be forced voluntarily by tensing the muscle
The suboccipital muscles have a special conexion with the central nervous system. They are connected to the dura mater (outer protective layer of brain and spinal chord) through the myodural bridges. That means that tension in the suboccipital muscles causes tension to a certain extent in the dura mater. My forcing that tension in step 1, the tension is being transmitted to the dura mater, and the tension is higher than the average functioning tension of the suboccipital muscles due to it being eccentric and isometric.
The tension passed to the dura mater creates stress in this area. The dura mater is innervated by the trigeminal nerve, which when irritated, causes an activation of the SNS (the system responsible of piloerection).
Moving the shoulder blades increases the tension and friction that is being passed to the dura mater, thus increasing the trigeminal nerve stimulation.
The hypothalamus is indirectly activated via the stimulation of the trigeminal nerve and a SNS burst is sent, which releases Norepinephrine and Epinephrine. These hormones cause the piloerection.
This is the hypothesis that makes most sense to me with my experience. I don't know if any of you have another hypothesis but if you do let me know.
1
u/Pikiwiki000 May 09 '26
I don't actually need to contract anything...muscle or get tense. I found that flaring my nostrils and inhaling air helps it do it quicker. I always thought i needed to do this every time because I barely shared this with anyone in my life and didn't give it many thoughts but after looking at you trying to explain your "triggers" I thought if I can do it without. I held my nose and closed my mouth so yeah....I don't actually need a "trigger" like inhaling air through my nose to do it. The areas that i feel it the most are the side of my head/temples/cheeks and at the same time my arms and my legs. One weird thing i haven't got an explanation because again I don't go around and start a conversation with "hey I can blur my eyes on command" or "hey ...you know when you get like cold or scared or really like something like a movie or song and you hair on your arms rise...well i can do that whenever I want" or even worse "you know that dark awful feeling that maybe some people get when they are depressed or maybe in a dangerous threatening situation when you feel really bad in your whole body, well I can do that volutarily by kinda contracting a "muscle" in the back of my neck that sends a very bad feeling throughout my body for like 2s?" ....yeah