Anatomic and physiological bases of social blushing: speculations from neurology and psychology.

Although a common and occasionally troubling reaction, social blushing has received little systematic attention from either medical or behavioral researchers. This article reviews what is known of the physiological and psychological processes that mediate social blushing, and speculates regarding the role of central mechanisms in the phenomenon. Blushing is characterized by the unusual combination of cutaneous vasodilatation of the face, neck,...