A blush that rises over the cheeks and the feeling of just wanting to disappear. Everyone has probably experienced uncontrolled blushing.
Researchers have long struggled with the question of why we blush. Now they have approached the answer – through karaoke.
The researchers from the Netherlands and Italy have used a somewhat unusual method to study why we blush in certain situations. In a study, they let over 40 women between 16 and 20 years old do something that many put high on the shame list: singing karaoke.
The participants were allowed to choose between, among other things, Adele's "Hello", "Let It Go" from the movie "Frost" or Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is you". Before they started singing, the participants were told that others would watch and listen to the performance.
Saw their performance
At a later occasion, the participants were invited back to watch recordings, both of their own performance and of other participants. While they watched, brain activity was studied with an MRI camera, as well as skin temperature on the cheeks.
As expected, the results showed that the participants blushed more when they watched the recording of themselves than recordings of others. But the researchers were surprised to find that they did not see any increased activity in the areas of the brain associated with how we think about how others perceive us. It thus does not seem to be the worry that drives blushing.
"Feel exposed"
On the other hand, they saw that activity in the areas involved in vision increased. They also saw increased activity in parts associated with movement and coordination.
“Based on this, it seems that we do not blush because we think about what others will think of us. Blushing seems to occur automatically when we feel exposed”, writes Milica Nikolic, researcher at the University of Amsterdam and one of the researchers behind the study in a comment.
