Why Some People Can Give Yourself Goosebumps on Command

You know that weird, prickly sensation that crawls up your neck when a song hits the perfect high note or you step out into a freezing winter morning? We call them goosebumps. Piloerection, if you want to be all medical about it. For most of us, it’s a total accident. It just happens. But for a tiny, fascinating sliver of the population, it’s a choice. They can actually give yourself goosebumps whenever they feel like it. No ice cubes required. No scary movies. Just a flick of a mental switch.

Honestly, it sounds like a useless superpower. Like being able to wiggle your ears or fold your tongue into a clover. But researchers are finding that this ability, officially known as Voluntarily Generated Piloerection (VGP), might tell us a lot more about the human brain and the autonomic nervous system than we originally thought.

The Weird Science of Voluntary Chills

Most people think goosebumps are strictly involuntary. Your body does it to stay warm or because you’re terrified. It’s a leftover reflex from our hairy ancestors who needed to puff up their fur to look bigger to predators or trap heat. Since we aren't exactly covered in thick fur anymore, it’s mostly just a cosmetic quirk now.

But then you have the VGP crowd.

In 2018, a study led by researchers at Northeastern University, including James Heathers, looked into this specific phenomenon. They found that people who can give yourself goosebumps often describe the sensation starting at the base of the brain, the neck, or the scalp. From there, it ripples down the spine and across the arms. It’s not just a physical twitch. It’s a full-body event.

What’s wild is how they do it. It’s not usually about thinking of something sad or cold. Most people in the study reported that they simply "think" the sensation into existence. It's almost like flexing a muscle you didn't know you had. Some describe it as a build-up of tension that they eventually "release."

Is it all in the head?

Technically, yes. But it’s deeper than just imagination. Usually, the autonomic nervous system—the stuff that handles your heart rate, digestion, and pupil dilation—runs on autopilot. You can’t typically "will" your heart to beat slower or your stomach to digest faster.

Yet, people who can give yourself goosebumps are somehow hacking into this system.

When researchers monitored these individuals, they saw the physiological markers were real. This wasn't a placebo. Their skin actually rose. Their heart rates often spiked slightly. It’s a conscious bridge to an unconscious system.

Personality Traits and the Goosebump Connection

If you can do this, you might be a bit of a "thick skin" or "thin skin" personality, depending on how you look at it. Interestingly, the research suggests a correlation between VGP and a personality trait called Openness to Experience.

People who score high in Openness are usually more in touch with their emotions. They appreciate art, get lost in music, and are generally more curious about the world. It turns out, they are also more likely to experience "frisson"—those aesthetic chills you get from a beautiful symphony—and, by extension, they are more likely to be among the few who can give yourself goosebumps on command.

It’s not a 1:1 rule, obviously. You can be a creative genius and never have a single voluntary goosebump. But the link is there. It suggests that the way we process emotion is physically wired into our skin.

The Physiology of the "Flick"

When you decide to trigger the sensation, you’re likely activating the sympathetic nervous system. This is your "fight or flight" mode. Usually, this kicks in during high stress. But for the VGP-capable, they can tap into those nerves without the stress.

• The Arrector Pili: These are the tiny muscles at the base of your hair follicles.
• The Contraction: When these muscles contract, they pull the hair upright and create the "bump."
• The Nerve Signal: This is sent via the sympathetic nerves, which are typically beyond conscious control.

Why can some do it and others can't? It might be a literal physical connection in the brain that most people don't have. Or perhaps we all have it, but we’ve "forgotten" how to use it.

Can You Learn to Give Yourself Goosebumps?

This is the question everyone asks. If it's a "muscle," can you train it?

The short answer is: probably not, but maybe.

Most people who have this ability discovered it by accident during childhood or adolescence. They were sitting in class, bored, and realized they could make their skin crawl. If you don't already have that neural pathway, it’s incredibly difficult to build it from scratch. It’s not like learning to whistle.

However, some people find they can get close by using "frisson" as a gateway. By intensely focusing on a specific memory or a powerful piece of music, you can coax the body into a chill. But that’s still a reaction to a stimulus. The true "voluntary" version requires no external help. You just do it.

Honestly, it’s a bit of a biological mystery. We spend so much time trying to control our bodies—our weight, our muscle mass, our focus—but the autonomic system remains mostly a black box. VGP is one of the few windows we have into that box.

The Evolutionary "So What?"

Why would we even keep this? If we don't have fur, goosebumps are useless.

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Some evolutionary biologists argue that we haven't lost the reflex because it’s tied so deeply to our emotional centers. The same part of the brain that reacts to a cold breeze also reacts to a beautiful poem. This is why "giving yourself goosebumps" is often associated with a sense of awe.

Awe is a powerful human emotion. It’s what we feel when we realize the scale of the universe or see something truly magnificent. It’s possible that goosebumps stayed with us not for warmth, but as a physical marker of "this matters."

If you can trigger that at will, you’re essentially triggering a physical "awe" response. Some people use this for meditation or to "wake themselves up" when they feel sluggish. It’s a shot of adrenaline on demand.

Actionable Insights for the Curious

If you’re wondering if you have this "hidden talent" or just want to explore the mind-body connection more deeply, here is what you can actually do.

1. Test your baseline. The next time you naturally get goosebumps—maybe from a song or a cold draft—don't just let it pass. Pay intense attention to where the feeling starts. Is it the back of your neck? Your temples? Once you identify the "origin point," you can try to focus on that spot later when you're in a neutral state.

2. Explore the "Openness" connection. Since VGP is linked to being emotionally open, try engaging with high-stimulus art. Deep, immersive listening to music (no distractions, eyes closed) is the most common way to trigger frisson. Understanding how your body reacts to external triggers is the first step in understanding if you can recreate those triggers internally.

3. Don't force the physical. Trying to "flex" your skin won't work. It’s a mental release, not a muscular contraction. People who can do it often describe it as a "wave" they allow to happen rather than a push they force.

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4. Use it for focus. If you are one of the lucky few who can give yourself goosebumps, try using it as a "reset" button. Many VGP-capable people report a sense of mental clarity or a "shaking off" of lethargy after they trigger a chill. It's a free, natural hit of physiological arousal that can help you refocus during a long workday.

5. Check your heart rate. If you think you're doing it, try wearing a heart rate monitor or a smartwatch. A true voluntary piloerection usually comes with a slight, temporary jump in heart rate. If your skin is bumping but your heart rate is steady, you might just be reacting to a subtle temperature change in the room rather than truly controlling your nervous system.

The human body is remarkably strange. We like to think we're the captains of the ship, but most of the machinery is running in the engine room where we aren't allowed to go. Being able to give yourself goosebumps is like having a key to that room. It might not change your life, but it’s a fascinating reminder of how much is still going on under the surface.

To dive deeper into the science, you can look up the work of James Heathers or the 2018 study in the journal PeerJ titled "The voluntary control of piloerection." It’s one of the few formal pieces of literature on the subject and provides a great breakdown of the demographic and psychological profiles of "chillers."

Focus on the sensation at the base of your skull. Relax your shoulders. See if you can find the switch. If you can't, don't worry—you're just like 99% of the rest of the world. But if you can, you've got a built-in biological party trick that science is only just beginning to understand.

Next Steps for Exploration:

• Track your triggers: Keep a note of when you feel "frisson" naturally to see if there is a pattern in the music or thoughts that cause it.
• Practice mindfulness: Deepening your awareness of subtle body sensations is the only known way to potentially bridge the gap to the autonomic nervous system.
• Read the research: Look into "Voluntarily Generated Piloerection" on Google Scholar to see the latest physiological data on how this affects heart rate and skin conductance.