Looking at the Sun Can Trigger a Sneeze


	Looking at the Sun Can Trigger a Sneeze

Catshade

11-5-2008 8:38 AM

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tags:

psychology, sun, sneeze, quirk, eye, nose, nerve, brain

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11-5-2008 11:14 AM

polymath22

This is a handy trick if you have a sneeze that just won't come out. Look at any bright light and out it comes.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/93568923-43d3-4f08-a467-f79af5e0d22b/1B9D5AA6-CA7C-46EE-9681-A530B39B0C90/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=looking-at-the-sun-can-trigger-a-sneeze&print=true" href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=looking-at-the-sun-can-trigger-a-sneeze&print=true" style="font-size: 11px;">www.sciam.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=looking-at-the-sun-can-trigger-a-sneeze&print=true"><P>Have you ever emerged from a matinee movie, squinted into the sudden burst of sunlight and sneezed uncontrollably? Up to a third of the population will answer this question with an emphatic "Yes!" (whereas nearly everyone else scratches their head in confusion). <A href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-we-sneeze">Sneezing</A> as the result of being exposed to a bright light—known as the <A href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=why-does-bright-light-cau">photic sneeze reflex</A>—is a genetic quirk that is still unexplained by science, even though it has intrigued some of history's greatest minds.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=looking-at-the-sun-can-trigger-a-sneeze&print=true"><P>A sneeze is usually triggered by an irritation in the nose, which 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. As the <A href="http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=hope-for-restoring-sight">optic nerve</A> fires to signal the brain to constrict the pupils, the theory goes, some of the electrical signal is sensed by the trigeminal nerve and mistaken by the brain as an irritant in the nose. Hence, a sneeze.</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/1B9D5AA6-CA7C-46EE-9681-A530B39B0C90/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content8.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>