1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,560 Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: I'm Lauren vocal Bomb, and this is a classic episode 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: of the podcast. In this one, we take a look 4 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:17,920 Speaker 1: at the fictional phenomenon of psychic powers causing nosebleeds. It's 5 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: a common trope in visual media like TV and comics, 6 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,160 Speaker 1: and as far as we know, psychic powers don't really exist. 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:28,040 Speaker 1: But if they did, would there be any physiological basis 8 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:32,599 Speaker 1: behind it? Hey brain Stuff, I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and 9 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: you've seen the trope. A mental battle rages between a 10 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,400 Speaker 1: heroic character and her nemesis. As the struggle wears on, 11 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 1: we see the first signs of the toll. It must 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: be taking a trickle of blood. Ruby red appears at 13 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: one nostril. The strain of invisible psychic abilities is admittedly 14 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,240 Speaker 1: difficult to illustrate in a visual medium. Perhaps that's why 15 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,440 Speaker 1: so many authors of comic books, television shows, and movies 16 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: turn to this tried and true trope, the psychic nose bleed. 17 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: When blood comes from a character's nose, it signifies that 18 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,840 Speaker 1: the character is exerting themselves. After all, blood vessels can 19 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: rupture thanks to physical exertion, as many a weightlifter knows, 20 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: so perhaps psychic powers could cause some sort of cranial 21 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 1: pressure build up. It's concise and visceral in a way 22 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: that a mere facial twitch, drop of sweat, or vein 23 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:23,120 Speaker 1: throb can't cover. It's become such a common way to 24 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: imply a mind pushed to its limits that the Comics 25 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,160 Speaker 1: meets Medicine blog Polite Descent has been tracking its appearance 26 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: in comics for nearly a decade. The site even gave 27 00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:36,600 Speaker 1: the fictional phenomenon a name, Epistaxis telepathica, the medical term 28 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,920 Speaker 1: for a nosebleed being epistaxis. The psychic nosebleed has appeared 29 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: in more than just comics, of course, beyond comic book 30 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: adaptations like the two thousand and five film Fantastic Four 31 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: and the TV series Smallville and media directly influenced by 32 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: comics like Heroes and Chronicle, to other genre media like 33 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: The Fifth Element, Star Trek and Carnival. It also features 34 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,920 Speaker 1: prominently in the Netflix series Stranger Things, in which a 35 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: mysterious girl called Eleven escapes a creepy government laboratory, then 36 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: uses her telekinetic powers against her former captors and some 37 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:14,040 Speaker 1: transdimensional creepy crawleys. The internal severity of these psychic abilities 38 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,520 Speaker 1: is evidenced by the blood that trickles sometimes from Eleven's nose. 39 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:21,400 Speaker 1: Stranger Things pays homage to pop culture from the nineteen 40 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: eighties with the Spielberg meets Carpenter meets Stephen King sort 41 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: of vibe. So it's fitting that one of the earliest 42 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:31,239 Speaker 1: cinematic instances of the psychic nosebleed appears in the nineteen 43 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:35,360 Speaker 1: eighty four film adaptation of Stephen King's Firestarter. A seven 44 00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: year old girl named Charlie starts fires using the power 45 00:02:38,120 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: of her mind. Evidence did not only buy flames, but 46 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: by the occasional nosebleed. But for some of the earliest 47 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: psychic nose bleeds, we're going to have to go back 48 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 1: to the nineteen eighty one paranormal thriller Scanners from David Cronenberg. 49 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: It's the first film to clearly connect nasal bleeding with 50 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: psychic exertion. In the movie, Scanners are people born with 51 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,399 Speaker 1: telepathic and telekinetic powers, the extreme use of which makes 52 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: them subject to nose bleeds and more. But if psychic 53 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: powers really existed, how might this work? There's a theory 54 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: that using psychic powers could raise the pressure of your 55 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,120 Speaker 1: cerebrospinal fluid. But pressure in this fluid, which surrounds the 56 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 1: brain and spinal cord, would not cause a nose bleed. 57 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,799 Speaker 1: It would cause a coma. It's actually more likely that 58 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,799 Speaker 1: a nosebleed would be brought on by enthusiastic nose picking. 59 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,680 Speaker 1: The scientific term for that, by the way, is epistaxis digitorum. 60 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: While the appearance of nose bleeds adds to the nostalgic 61 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: eighties drama of stranger things, actual nosebleeds can be dramatic 62 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: and horrific on their own. Anytime a body part starts 63 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,360 Speaker 1: spouting copious amounts of blood, it's bound to cause a rucus. 64 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: It seems but a small leap to connect nose bleeds 65 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 1: to fictional worlds, but that's all it is. Fiction. Nosebleeds 66 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:50,720 Speaker 1: are not caused by how hard we use our brains. 67 00:03:50,920 --> 00:03:52,960 Speaker 1: If that were true, think of all the situations we'd 68 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: need tissues for tests, job interviews, presentations. Surgeons might bleed 69 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 1: more than their patients. The majority of nose bled in 70 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: real life are caused by fist versus nose or finger 71 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: versus nose collisions. Infections, allergen irritations, and foreign bodies can 72 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,240 Speaker 1: also be to blame, and high blood pressure can cause one, 73 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: although it's lower on the list of dangers than strokes 74 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:17,479 Speaker 1: or heart attacks. Most nose bleeds occur during winter months 75 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 1: and are exacerbated by climates that are dry and cold. 76 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,480 Speaker 1: The vast majority, about ninety percent of nose bleeds are 77 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: of the anterior variety, caused by the rupture of a 78 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,120 Speaker 1: blood vessel at the front part of the nose. These 79 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: nose bleeds are relatively easy to control and usually stop 80 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: within a few minutes. Posterior nose bleeds are a different 81 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: story and are caused by an arterial rupture at the 82 00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: back of the nose. A most common and elderly people. 83 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 1: Posterior nose bleeds are difficult to stop and usually require 84 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:48,160 Speaker 1: hospital admission. Of course, all of this isn't to say 85 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:51,360 Speaker 1: that we're not prepared to suspend our disbelief just in 86 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:54,520 Speaker 1: case fiction starts bleeding over into reality. We wouldn't want 87 00:04:54,520 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: to think about it too hard. Today's episode is based 88 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 1: on the article wood psychic powers really cause a nosebleed 89 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,039 Speaker 1: on how stuffworks dot com, written by Lareel Dove Brain 90 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:11,360 Speaker 1: Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how 91 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 1: stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four 92 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio. Visit the Airheartradio app, 93 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.