Being cold may be contagious: scientists

January 16, 2015  22:35

A new research by the University of Sussex has shown that being cold may be contagious for people. Researchers showed the participants videos of people putting their hands in chilly water. It turned out, that after watching the videos the left hands of the participants became colder by an average of  -17,5 ◦C, while right hands by an average of 17,7 ◦C, Fox News reports.

The lead researcher Dr. Neil Harrison said such sympathetic coldness could be adaptive trait.

Scientists say humans are social creatures and much of their success results from the abilty to work together in complex situations.

''This would be very hard if we were not able to rapidly empathize with others and predict their thoughts, feelings or motivations'',-Harrison said.

He said, 36 participants' body temperatures stayed the same when they watched videos of people putting their hands in warm water. Perhaps, this is because the cold was more evident than the heat in the videos.  There is also some evidence to suggest that people may be more sensitive when people appear cold than hot.

It should be noted that yawning is also a contagious behavior and even dogs are susceptible.

 

 

 

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