WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Why Is Head Scratching a Gesture of Thought?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff. Production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum in today's episode is another classic from

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<v Speaker 1>our archives. This one concerns an actual bit of brain stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>Why scratching our heads may have developed as an unconscious

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<v Speaker 1>gesture of thought or confusion? Hey brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've ever had the distinct pleasure of sourcing stock

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<v Speaker 1>photos for any reason, you've likely come across a whole

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<v Speaker 1>lot of laughing women eating salads alone. But you've also

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<v Speaker 1>probably stumbled upon a truckload of people scratching their heads

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<v Speaker 1>to symbolize confusion, deep thought, or perhaps a bad case

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<v Speaker 1>of dandruff scalp dryness. Aside, how exactly did the head

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<v Speaker 1>scratch come to symbolize intellectual processes? Some people believe that

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<v Speaker 1>certain automatic gestures are simply natural expressive motions that are

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<v Speaker 1>Caveman predecessors passed down to us. San Diego Read columnist

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<v Speaker 1>Matthew Alice wrote this about it. One popular explanation for

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<v Speaker 1>any hand to head movements is that their frustrated aggression

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<v Speaker 1>a reversion to the natural movements of our rock throwing ancestors.

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<v Speaker 1>If you watch a small child strike at something, he'll

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<v Speaker 1>raise an arm over his head and bring it forward

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<v Speaker 1>in an arc. It's a natural, unstudied movement, not much finesse,

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<v Speaker 1>but for a caveman, it got the job done. Alice

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<v Speaker 1>also pointed to a possible anthropological explanation for head scratching.

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<v Speaker 1>He wrote, when we're wrestling with some naughty problem, we

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<v Speaker 1>experience feelings of frustration, perhaps some anger, and before we

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<v Speaker 1>know it, our hand flies up in the air. But

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<v Speaker 1>hold it. In these modern times, it's not polite to

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<v Speaker 1>bash the guy who asked the question, so instead we

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<v Speaker 1>deflect attention from the movement and scratch or rub our

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<v Speaker 1>head or chin or neck. In a two thousand nine

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<v Speaker 1>article for Psychology Today, author and former FBI counter intelligence

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<v Speaker 1>agent Joe Navarro wrote, when we are under stress, our

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<v Speaker 1>brain requires a certain amount of hand to body touching, handwringing,

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<v Speaker 1>forehead rubbing, temple massaging, lip touching, etcetera. These pacifiers served

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<v Speaker 1>to soothe the individual when there is negative limbic arousal, fear, stress, etcetera.

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<v Speaker 1>Recent research seems to back up this stress theory and

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<v Speaker 1>add another unexpected layer to the story. In a two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand seventeen study, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports,

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<v Speaker 1>Scientists who observed forty five rees monkeys found that scratching

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<v Speaker 1>was more likely to occur in times of heightened stress,

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<v Speaker 1>like standing in the presence of a high ranking or

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<v Speaker 1>unfamiliar monkey. It turns out monkeys who scratched were significantly

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<v Speaker 1>less likely to be attacked by those threatening strangers. Lead

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<v Speaker 1>author Jamie Whitehouse said in the study, as scratching can

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<v Speaker 1>be a sign of social stress, potential attackers might be

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<v Speaker 1>avoiding attacking obviously stressed individuals because such individuals could behave

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<v Speaker 1>unpredictably or be weakened by their stress, meaning an attack

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<v Speaker 1>could be either risky or unnecessary. And meanwhile, itching is

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<v Speaker 1>still a pretty mysterious phenomenon to scientists, but recent research

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<v Speaker 1>suggests the tickly sensation isn't necessarily a mild form of pain,

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<v Speaker 1>but its own distinct occurrence caused by a molecule that

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<v Speaker 1>sends a message from the heart to the spinal cord.

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<v Speaker 1>So while there's no single explanation for this head scratcher,

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<v Speaker 1>you know what was coming, it appears that acting out

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<v Speaker 1>your anxiousness with this stereotypical tick could keep you in

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<v Speaker 1>the good graces of others. Today's episode is based on

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<v Speaker 1>the article why do we scratch our heads when We're thinking?

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<v Speaker 1>On how stuff works dot Com written by Michelle Konstantinovski.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is production of by Heart Radio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with how stuff works dot Com, and that's produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Klang and Ramsey Out. For more podcasts from my

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