Freethought & Rationalism Archive

God Fearing Atheist · 05-24-2003, 08:45 PM

A note before I begin -- im quite serious about this.

While draining the lizard earlier today, I experienced an all-too-common phenomenon: the piss-shiver. And it got me to thinking; what, exactly, is its cause? As a man, and as a human being, I must know!

Does anyone have any idea?

-GFA

Bumble Bee Tuna · 05-24-2003, 09:19 PM

I wondered the same damn thing! I personally like piss-shivers every so often, but that might just be me. I like sneezes every so often too.

-B

Caligula · 05-24-2003, 10:59 PM

And I thought I was the only one! No clue what causes though.

Undercurrent · 05-24-2003, 11:33 PM

Uhm..., what's a piss shiver?

Bumble Bee Tuna · 05-26-2003, 10:16 PM

You know...

you piss, and then you shiver?

Jesse · 05-26-2003, 11:02 PM

http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/databas...2/b01062d.html

Quote:

What causes a shiver down my spine?

There are many expressions that describe the feeling of a shiver running down our spine. We can say that our flesh creeps, that we get goose bumps or that someone has just walked over our grave. Although we all experience these reactions it is hard to explain why.

To explain this, let�s start with something related that we all experience: why do we get goose bumps when it�s cold? Well, it seems that this reaction is a leftover from the time when our ancestors were hairier than we are now. Cold air causes the muscles at the base of our skin to stiffen and this makes the small hairs in our body to stand up. If we were hairier this would allow us to trap more air between them and it would insulate our bodies against the cold. Other animals with hair and birds still use this mechanism to protect themselves from cold weather.

We can say that goose bumps are a �vestigial trait�, which means that our body reacts in that way because they served a function in the past, although now they don�t. Now, the more complicated bit is to explain why we get these sensations in response to non-temperature dependent sources, such as, the sound of nails scratching a blackboard, touching cotton wool or listening to an emotional piece of music. You might have noticed that the fur of certain animals stands up not only in response to cold temperatures but also to threatening noises or sights (just think of a cat running away from a dog). This reflex allows them to look larger and scarier to their adversaries. In humans, it is possible that when we had hair we reacted in the same way to look larger. As with getting goose bumps when we are cold, it is possible that we can still get them when we are scared, feel threatened or are uncomfortable. Even pleasurable experience can send a shiver down our spine because as threatening circumstances they result in an altered emotional state.

Although we all experience these reactions it is hard to explain why. Furthermore, the reactions will be triggered by different things for different people. Some might unconsciously perceive the noise of nails scratching a blackboard as a threat and others will be fine. The same is true for sensations perceived through your sense touch and for those that are pleasurable.

"Even pleasurable experience can send a shiver down our spine because as threatening circumstances they result in an altered emotional state"...hmm, it basically sounds to me like they have no definite idea why people shiver due to things other than cold.

echidna · 05-27-2003, 01:35 AM

Possibly some shivering is associated with a temporary brain-generated feeling of cold, which in turn may be emotionally generated. Shivering in fear would be an example, although in the case of weeing I'm less certain.

If I'm not mistaken the piss-shiver is more common when emptying a full bladder than a half-full one, so that might indicate that it's linked to muscle relaxing or organ displacement.

I hope it's not too off-topic to also inquire about the omnipresent morning hardon as well. AFAIK it's associated with REM sleep which occurs in the late hours of the morning, but that's as much as I know.

Amit Misra · 05-27-2003, 02:18 AM

1. Is the phenomenon alluded to (may I abbreviate it as a the PS?) restricted to males? I daren't ask my wife, but its a thought.
2. My hypothesis: when ambient temperature is (significantly) below 37 degrees celcius, the sudden loss of about 300 ml of fluid at 37 degrees cools the urinator appreciably. The autonomic response to this may be the PS.
3. Ever experienced the after-dinner shiver in cold weather?
Echidna wrote about...

Quote:

the omnipresent morning hardon

Alas, the fickleness of youth! Would that mymorrows were as pleasant as of yore.
Actually, I would ascribe early morning penile erections to the surge of the hormones: GnRH, LH and testosterone that young human males experience every morning. The interested reader is referred to a sereis of articles by JD Veldhuis et al in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
If urged to do so, I might expound on this theme myself.
amit

doghouse · 05-27-2003, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Amit Misra
Actually, I would ascribe early morning penile erections to the surge of the hormones: GnRH, LH and testosterone that young human males experience every morning.

These hormones don't cause erections, at least not directly. Nocturnal erections occur in all normal men and are related to increased parasympathetic tone associated with the rapid-eye movement phase of sleep.

theyeti · 05-27-2003, 09:03 AM

The straigtdope has a column about this:

What causes "piss shiver"?

Unfortunately there's no firm conclusion. Several popular explanations are ruled out though. Personally, I think it's simply a response of the nervous system when having to relax your wee-wee for a prolonged period.

theyeti

05-24-2003, 08:45 PM	#1
God Fearing Atheist Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Massachusetts, USA -- Let's Go Red Sox! Posts: 1,500	The Omnipresent Piss-Shiver A note before I begin -- im quite serious about this. While draining the lizard earlier today, I experienced an all-too-common phenomenon: the piss-shiver. And it got me to thinking; what, exactly, is its cause? As a man, and as a human being, I must know! Does anyone have any idea? -GFA

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05-24-2003, 09:19 PM	#2
Bumble Bee Tuna Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Middletown, CT Posts: 7,333	I wondered the same damn thing! I personally like piss-shivers every so often, but that might just be me. I like sneezes every so often too. -B

05-24-2003, 10:59 PM	#3
Caligula Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: West Coast Posts: 58	And I thought I was the only one! No clue what causes though.

05-24-2003, 11:33 PM	#4
Undercurrent Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Santa Fe, NM Posts: 2,362	Uhm..., what's a piss shiver?

05-26-2003, 10:16 PM	#5
Bumble Bee Tuna Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Middletown, CT Posts: 7,333	You know... you piss, and then you shiver?

05-27-2003, 01:35 AM	#7
echidna Veteran Member Join Date: May 2001 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 2,832	Possibly some shivering is associated with a temporary brain-generated feeling of cold, which in turn may be emotionally generated. Shivering in fear would be an example, although in the case of weeing I'm less certain. If I'm not mistaken the piss-shiver is more common when emptying a full bladder than a half-full one, so that might indicate that it's linked to muscle relaxing or organ displacement. I hope it's not too off-topic to also inquire about the omnipresent morning hardon as well. AFAIK it's associated with REM sleep which occurs in the late hours of the morning, but that's as much as I know.

05-27-2003, 09:03 AM	#10
theyeti Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Denver, CO, USA Posts: 9,747	The straigtdope has a column about this: What causes "piss shiver"? Unfortunately there's no firm conclusion. Several popular explanations are ruled out though. Personally, I think it's simply a response of the nervous system when having to relax your wee-wee for a prolonged period. theyeti

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