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Strange Sensation On Forehead

pandacracker

pandacracker

Justified & Ancient
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
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When pointing something... er... pointy at my lower forehead I get a strange sensation. Does anyone know what/why this is (or indeed, knows what I'm on about)?
 
I think I know what you mean, if you get a pencil, for example, and point it at the centre of your forhead (without touching), you get a weird tingly pressure feeling, almost anticipating the object launching itself into your brain. Or is that just me?
 
SimonBurchell said:
I think I know what you mean, if you get a pencil, for example, and point it at the centre of your forhead (without touching), you get a weird tingly pressure feeling, almost anticipating the object launching itself into your brain. Or is that just me?
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That's exactly what I mean.

I thought it was some sort of primal warning system but it doesn't happen if your eyes are closed (my sister and I got obsessed with experimenting with the sensation one wet Sunday afternoon)
 
Just tried it with a pair of pointy tweezers and did feel a sort of tingly sensation and slight pressure. I've also noticed this sensation sometimes when I've been really relaxed with my eyes shut.
 
Is it anything to do with ASMR, do you think?
 
maximus otter said:
l think it’s just an instinct to protect one’s sight.
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Yes, possibly, but the sensation is around the lower forehead, nothing happens when I point something at other parts of my face around the eyes.

escargot said:
Like when you have bare feet on the sofa and someone reaches towards them as if to tickle them? :)
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Mmmm... no one's reached out to tickle any part of my body for a long time so I'm not sure about that one.
 
catseye said:
I wondered, because I can get a physical reaction to watching someone have a massage. It's a sort of 'suggestion' I guess.
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I've been warned about internet sites like that. :wink2:
 
I don't think what you describe clearly falls within the category of ASMR.

It seems to me you're referring to a personal / idiosyncratic somatic response (lower forehead sensation) to a particular stimulus. This response seems to require conscious attention to / recognition of a particular stimulus.

You haven't yet described the feeling / sensation, and it's unclear whether you confirmed it is a "tingling" as SimonBurchell suggested.
 
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EnolaGaia said:
You haven't yet described the feeling / sensation, and it's unclear whether you confirmed it is a "tingling" as SimonBurchell suggested.
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SimonBurchell said:
you get a weird tingly pressure feeling, almost anticipating the object launching itself into your brain. Or is that just me?
Click to expand...

pandacracker said:
That's exactly what I mean.
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Just noticed the Quora link in my post #13 doesn't go to the relevant page so I've put it below. It seems like a very possible explanation.


Why do we feel a strange sensation when something is pointed between our eyes, just above the nose, on the forehead?
Originally Answered: Why do we feel a strange sensation when something is pointed between our eyes, just above the nose, on forehead"?
Oooo, now I have an answer to THIS question. I read it on a Neuroscience site once.
So, here it goes:
I am sorry to say that I do not have a solid accepted answer to you. Or maybe
I should put it differently and say that to my knowledge you have gotten your
fingers on some illusion that I have not seen previously described.
With regards to what may cause it, I can say a bit more. We use binocular
vision and the direction our two eyes are pointing to judge the location and
extent of objects in space. When objects get very close to the head, the
differences in how they appear from the two eyes become increasingly large,
and the systematic errors the system makes increase in size. This is certainly
due in part to the fact that there rarely are objects in that location, so there
was little evolutionary pressure to get the localization of such objects right.
Objects that we view binocularly are seen single in a fused image that is
perceived as though it were seen from a location between our eyes, from a
virtual eye that has been called the cyclopean eye. This works quite well for
faraway objects, but the closer they get, the bigger the discrepancy, and in
the case of an object held close to the forehead between the eyes, the
mechanism used to localize objects produces an error: it feels as though the
object were entering the forehead above the location of the cyclopean eye.
Such an object would of course cause a physical sensation, and I suspect it is
the conflict between the perceived location and the absence of any felt
presence of the object that causes the strange sensation of numbness that
comes about. Because if both sense are right, and there is an object in the
forehead, but you don't feel it, you must be numb there.
Admittedly, it's a fairly handwavy explanation, but I think it's the right kind of
explanation, and likely to be pointing the direction to the solution. Hopefully
without creating any numbness :)

Hope it helped.
Thanks for the A2A.
 
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I had a strange feeling on my forehead yesterday afternoon, so I brushed my hand across thinking it was maybe a hair, but no, it was an ant which dropped onto the piece of paper on my desk in front of me.
What I wonder is, though, is where did it come from? I don't have ants in the house, especially not so as one could drop onto my head, and I had been sitting here for a good couple of hours.
Just 'one of those things' I guess.
 
The human body is quite bizarre really. I get what I describe as 'the fanny wobbles' when seeing young children running close to the edge of a big drop or something. Absolutely no reason to get a physical sensation, but still...
 
catseye said:
'the fanny wobbles'
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Oh, that's fantastic!

I think you're referring to what Matt Smith's Doctor Who called 'squeaky bottom'

My younger sister, when she was a little kid, used to describe it as 'all the blood rushes to my bottom'
 
pandacracker said:
Oh, that's fantastic!

I think you're referring to what Matt Smith's Doctor Who called 'squeaky bottom'

My younger sister, when she was a little kid, used to describe it as 'all the blood rushes to my bottom'
Click to expand...
All of the above. Except 'squeaky bottom' because I think that's where he's referring to trying not to let out a fart of fear. Otherwise known as The Clenched Buttocks of Doom.
 
Interesting, the brain filling in a gap with anticipated stimulus? I wonder if this is related to the hand waving phenomenon. Seems to be a popular trick when visiting a mine or a deep cave open to the public. If the lights are shut off so the visitors are plunged into absolute pitch black - no light whatsoever - then they are Instructed to wave their hands in front of their faces, motion is perceived in the “noise” seen by the eyes. It’s quite striking.
 
catseye said:
All of the above. Except 'squeaky bottom' because I think that's where he's referring to trying not to let out a fart of fear. Otherwise known as The Clenched Buttocks of Doom.
Click to expand...

Do men have a pelvic floor? Because if even see a vertiginous height on TV, my pelvic floor goes all upset and funny.
 
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