When the sun prickles your nose: an EEG study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.

<h4>Background</h4>Exposure to bright light such as sunlight elicits a sneeze or prickling sensation in about one of every four individuals. This study presents the first scientific examination of this phenomenon, called 'the photic sneeze reflex'.<h4>Methodology and prin...

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Autores principales:	Nicolas Langer, Gian Beeli, Lutz Jäncke
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2010
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/ba58f822d9854e0aabe94d3fd78136cc
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:ba58f822d9854e0aabe94d3fd78136cc2021-11-25T06:25:52ZWhen the sun prickles your nose: an EEG study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.1932-620310.1371/journal.pone.0009208https://doaj.org/article/ba58f822d9854e0aabe94d3fd78136cc2010-02-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/20169159/?tool=EBIhttps://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203<h4>Background</h4>Exposure to bright light such as sunlight elicits a sneeze or prickling sensation in about one of every four individuals. This study presents the first scientific examination of this phenomenon, called 'the photic sneeze reflex'.<h4>Methodology and principal findings</h4>In the present experiment, 'photic sneezers' and controls were exposed to a standard checkerboard stimulus (block 1) and bright flashing lights (block 2) while their EEG (electro-encephalogram) was recorded. Remarkably, we found a generally enhanced excitability of the visual cortex (mainly in the cuneus) to visual stimuli in 'photic sneezers' compared with control subjects. In addition, a stronger prickling sensation in the nose of photic sneezers was found to be associated with activation in the insula and stronger activation in the secondary somatosensory cortex.<h4>Conclusion</h4>We propose that the photic sneeze phenomenon might be the consequence of higher sensitivity to visual stimuli in the visual cortex and of co-activation of somatosensory areas. The 'photic sneeze reflex' is therefore not a classical reflex that occurs only at a brainstem or spinal cord level but, in stark contrast to many theories, involves also specific cortical areas.Nicolas LangerGian BeeliLutz JänckePublic Library of Science (PLoS)articleMedicineRScienceQENPLoS ONE, Vol 5, Iss 2, p e9208 (2010)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Nicolas Langer Gian Beeli Lutz Jäncke When the sun prickles your nose: an EEG study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.
description	<h4>Background</h4>Exposure to bright light such as sunlight elicits a sneeze or prickling sensation in about one of every four individuals. This study presents the first scientific examination of this phenomenon, called 'the photic sneeze reflex'.<h4>Methodology and principal findings</h4>In the present experiment, 'photic sneezers' and controls were exposed to a standard checkerboard stimulus (block 1) and bright flashing lights (block 2) while their EEG (electro-encephalogram) was recorded. Remarkably, we found a generally enhanced excitability of the visual cortex (mainly in the cuneus) to visual stimuli in 'photic sneezers' compared with control subjects. In addition, a stronger prickling sensation in the nose of photic sneezers was found to be associated with activation in the insula and stronger activation in the secondary somatosensory cortex.<h4>Conclusion</h4>We propose that the photic sneeze phenomenon might be the consequence of higher sensitivity to visual stimuli in the visual cortex and of co-activation of somatosensory areas. The 'photic sneeze reflex' is therefore not a classical reflex that occurs only at a brainstem or spinal cord level but, in stark contrast to many theories, involves also specific cortical areas.
format	article
author	Nicolas Langer Gian Beeli Lutz Jäncke
author_facet	Nicolas Langer Gian Beeli Lutz Jäncke
author_sort	Nicolas Langer
title	When the sun prickles your nose: an EEG study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.
title_short	When the sun prickles your nose: an EEG study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.
title_full	When the sun prickles your nose: an EEG study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.
title_fullStr	When the sun prickles your nose: an EEG study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.
title_full_unstemmed	When the sun prickles your nose: an EEG study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.
title_sort	when the sun prickles your nose: an eeg study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.
publisher	Public Library of Science (PLoS)
publishDate	2010
url	https://doaj.org/article/ba58f822d9854e0aabe94d3fd78136cc
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When the sun prickles your nose: an EEG study identifying neural bases of photic sneezing.

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