WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Would Psychic Powers Really Cause Nosebleeds?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren vocal Bomb, and this is a classic episode

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<v Speaker 1>of the podcast. In this one, we take a look

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<v Speaker 1>at the fictional phenomenon of psychic powers causing nosebleeds. It's

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<v Speaker 1>a common trope in visual media like TV and comics,

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<v Speaker 1>and as far as we know, psychic powers don't really exist.

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<v Speaker 1>But if they did, would there be any physiological basis

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<v Speaker 1>behind it? Hey brain Stuff, I'm Lauren vogel Bomb, and

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<v Speaker 1>you've seen the trope. A mental battle rages between a

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<v Speaker 1>heroic character and her nemesis. As the struggle wears on,

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<v Speaker 1>we see the first signs of the toll. It must

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<v Speaker 1>be taking a trickle of blood. Ruby red appears at

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<v Speaker 1>one nostril. The strain of invisible psychic abilities is admittedly

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<v Speaker 1>difficult to illustrate in a visual medium. Perhaps that's why

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<v Speaker 1>so many authors of comic books, television shows, and movies

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<v Speaker 1>turn to this tried and true trope, the psychic nose bleed.

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<v Speaker 1>When blood comes from a character's nose, it signifies that

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<v Speaker 1>the character is exerting themselves. After all, blood vessels can

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<v Speaker 1>rupture thanks to physical exertion, as many a weightlifter knows,

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<v Speaker 1>so perhaps psychic powers could cause some sort of cranial

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<v Speaker 1>pressure build up. It's concise and visceral in a way

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<v Speaker 1>that a mere facial twitch, drop of sweat, or vein

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<v Speaker 1>throb can't cover. It's become such a common way to

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<v Speaker 1>imply a mind pushed to its limits that the Comics

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<v Speaker 1>meets Medicine blog Polite Descent has been tracking its appearance

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<v Speaker 1>in comics for nearly a decade. The site even gave

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<v Speaker 1>the fictional phenomenon a name, Epistaxis telepathica, the medical term

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<v Speaker 1>for a nosebleed being epistaxis. The psychic nosebleed has appeared

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<v Speaker 1>in more than just comics, of course, beyond comic book

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<v Speaker 1>adaptations like the two thousand and five film Fantastic Four

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<v Speaker 1>and the TV series Smallville and media directly influenced by

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<v Speaker 1>comics like Heroes and Chronicle, to other genre media like

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<v Speaker 1>The Fifth Element, Star Trek and Carnival. It also features

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<v Speaker 1>prominently in the Netflix series Stranger Things, in which a

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<v Speaker 1>mysterious girl called Eleven escapes a creepy government laboratory, then

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<v Speaker 1>uses her telekinetic powers against her former captors and some

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<v Speaker 1>transdimensional creepy crawleys. The internal severity of these psychic abilities

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<v Speaker 1>is evidenced by the blood that trickles sometimes from Eleven's nose.

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<v Speaker 1>Stranger Things pays homage to pop culture from the nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighties with the Spielberg meets Carpenter meets Stephen King sort

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<v Speaker 1>of vibe. So it's fitting that one of the earliest

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<v Speaker 1>cinematic instances of the psychic nosebleed appears in the nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighty four film adaptation of Stephen King's Firestarter. A seven

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<v Speaker 1>year old girl named Charlie starts fires using the power

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<v Speaker 1>of her mind. Evidence did not only buy flames, but

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<v Speaker 1>by the occasional nosebleed. But for some of the earliest

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<v Speaker 1>psychic nose bleeds, we're going to have to go back

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<v Speaker 1>to the nineteen eighty one paranormal thriller Scanners from David Cronenberg.

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<v Speaker 1>It's the first film to clearly connect nasal bleeding with

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<v Speaker 1>psychic exertion. In the movie, Scanners are people born with

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<v Speaker 1>telepathic and telekinetic powers, the extreme use of which makes

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<v Speaker 1>them subject to nose bleeds and more. But if psychic

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<v Speaker 1>powers really existed, how might this work? There's a theory

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<v Speaker 1>that using psychic powers could raise the pressure of your

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<v Speaker 1>cerebrospinal fluid. But pressure in this fluid, which surrounds the

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<v Speaker 1>brain and spinal cord, would not cause a nose bleed.

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<v Speaker 1>It would cause a coma. It's actually more likely that

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<v Speaker 1>a nosebleed would be brought on by enthusiastic nose picking.

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<v Speaker 1>The scientific term for that, by the way, is epistaxis digitorum.

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<v Speaker 1>While the appearance of nose bleeds adds to the nostalgic

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<v Speaker 1>eighties drama of stranger things, actual nosebleeds can be dramatic

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<v Speaker 1>and horrific on their own. Anytime a body part starts

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<v Speaker 1>spouting copious amounts of blood, it's bound to cause a rucus.

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<v Speaker 1>It seems but a small leap to connect nose bleeds

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<v Speaker 1>to fictional worlds, but that's all it is. Fiction. Nosebleeds

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<v Speaker 1>are not caused by how hard we use our brains.

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<v Speaker 1>If that were true, think of all the situations we'd

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<v Speaker 1>need tissues for tests, job interviews, presentations. Surgeons might bleed

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<v Speaker 1>more than their patients. The majority of nose bled in

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<v Speaker 1>real life are caused by fist versus nose or finger

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<v Speaker 1>versus nose collisions. Infections, allergen irritations, and foreign bodies can

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<v Speaker 1>also be to blame, and high blood pressure can cause one,

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<v Speaker 1>although it's lower on the list of dangers than strokes

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<v Speaker 1>or heart attacks. Most nose bleeds occur during winter months

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<v Speaker 1>and are exacerbated by climates that are dry and cold.

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<v Speaker 1>The vast majority, about ninety percent of nose bleeds are

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<v Speaker 1>of the anterior variety, caused by the rupture of a

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<v Speaker 1>blood vessel at the front part of the nose. These

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<v Speaker 1>nose bleeds are relatively easy to control and usually stop

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<v Speaker 1>within a few minutes. Posterior nose bleeds are a different

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<v Speaker 1>story and are caused by an arterial rupture at the

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<v Speaker 1>back of the nose. A most common and elderly people.

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<v Speaker 1>Posterior nose bleeds are difficult to stop and usually require

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<v Speaker 1>hospital admission. Of course, all of this isn't to say

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<v Speaker 1>that we're not prepared to suspend our disbelief just in

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<v Speaker 1>case fiction starts bleeding over into reality. We wouldn't want

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<v Speaker 1>to think about it too hard. Today's episode is based

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<v Speaker 1>on the article wood psychic powers really cause a nosebleed

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<v Speaker 1>on how stuffworks dot com, written by Lareel Dove Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production by Heart Radio in partnership with how

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<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot Com and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four

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