Aww bless you! (You should get together with the FAQer who coughs when they stick an ear bud in their right ear) Now, we may have our wires crossed, but most experts sunnily concur that crossed wires in the brain are most likely to be responsible for the 'photic sneeze reflex'. Yes there is a formal scientific name for this. Further details about this pressing (t)issue are below.
The primary trigger to sneezing is typically an irritation in the nose (nasal hair plucking, dust snorting, the old feather up the nose...) This irritation is sensed by the trigeminal nerve, a cranial nerve responsible for facial sensation and motor control. This nerve is in close proximity to the optic nerve, which senses, for example, a sudden flood of light entering the retina. Theory has it that when you're looking at the sun, the optic nerve fires signals to the brain to constrict the pupils. Some of these electrical signals are however sensed by the nearby trigeminal nerve and mistaken by the brain as a nasal irritant, hence, a sneeze.
I wonder if us Brits are prolific sun-seekers for this very reason... afterall, we all know what they say about sneezing...but that's another FAQ altogether.
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2 comments:
Haha, I've never heard of this. People sneeze when they look at the sun? Weird.
i never noticed that but usually when i need to sneeze i look up at a light, because the sun might cause eye damage.
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