Since a primary biological purpose of human hair is to protect the skin from environmental factors such as cold and heat, the latest scientific discovery makes complete sense. A research team led by Ya-Chieh Hsu, PhD, a stem cell researcher at Harvard University, found a clear connection between goose bumps and hair growth. If you think about it, this suggests our bodies can adapt fairly quickly to changes in our environment.No doubt this is a trait that had advantages from a survival perspective. Think about early humans waking up in their cave in late September and feeling a chill in the air as summer came to an end. Goosebumps rose on their arms as they shivered slightly and rubbed their skin as they tended to the fire to warm up. What none of us realized until now is that the muscles that raised those goose bumps also stimulated stem cells in the skin.The goosebumps had a direct role in making hair follicles and growing hair, which would help warm the body as winter settled in.
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