{"id":25949,"date":"2023-04-03T18:30:21","date_gmt":"2023-04-03T16:30:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencefocus.com\/?p=75707"},"modified":"2023-04-03T18:37:14","modified_gmt":"2023-04-03T16:37:14","slug":"what-causes-trypophobia-the-neuroscience-behind-the-fear-of-closely-packed-holes","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/what-causes-trypophobia-the-neuroscience-behind-the-fear-of-closely-packed-holes\/","title":{"rendered":"What causes trypophobia? The neuroscience behind the fear of closely-packed holes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The full science behind the fear of hole clusters (warning: contains even more horrible trypophobic imagery). <\/p>

By Thomas Ling\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 03 April 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

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Are you sitting uncomfortably? Does the picture below make you feel uneasy, unexpectedly nauseous or even terrified? Then we\u2019ve got news for you: you probably suffer from a degree of trypophobia, an aversion to clusters of small holes.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t worry, you\u2019re not alone. While it\u2019s estimated nearly 20 per cent of people are severely repulsed by pictures like the lotus pod above, some scientists think the majority of people react in some form to these images.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we all have trypophobia, just to different degrees,\u201d says Dr Geoff Cole<\/a>, one of the first scientists to study the disorder. \u201cJust like many other psychological phenomena \u2013 autism, for instance \u2013 everyone is on the scale.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A lotus seed pod \u00a9 Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

However, despite one in five people having severe trypophobia (double the estimated amount of people prone to claustrophobia<\/a>), the disorder is remarkably under-researched.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is essentially because nobody was aware of it until the internet developed and these images were shared in forums,\u201d says Cole, who published the first scientific paper on the topic (with co-author Prof Arnold Wilkins<\/a>) in 2013. \u201cBecause we\u2019ve just noticed this phenomenon, there is still quite a lot we don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what has been discovered so far? And can scientists explain why people hate these hole-riddled images? We dig into the issue below \u2013 alongside more pictures that some may find very uncomfortable. Consider yourself warned.<\/p>\n

Is trypophobia<\/strong> a real phobia?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s easy to be sceptical about trypophobia, a phobia that came to prominence through chatrooms in the early noughties. Even its name (Greek for \u2018boring holes\u2019 plus \u2018fear\u2019) emerged from an internet forum<\/a> away from the gaze of medical professionals.<\/p>\n

However, despite these questionable beginnings, Cole has shown that images with high contrasts between dark and light, repeated many times in a field of view (about three times per centimetre at arm\u2019s length), can have a real impact on a person\u2019s body.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
A collection of lotus seed pods \u00a9 Getty<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

His research has shown trypophobic people\u2019s heart rates can significantly increase<\/a> when looking at images of hole clusters \u2013 be it honeycomb, aerated chocolate or even crumpets. Sufferers can also experience nausea, sweating, itchiness and debilitating panic attacks.<\/p>\n

Cole also defines trypophobia as a mental disorder. \u201cThink of it as the visual equivalent of somebody scratching their nails down a chalkboard \u2013 the brain doesn\u2019t like these neural spikes these images create,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

What causes trypophobia?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

At the moment, there\u2019s no one agreed explanation to what causes trypophobia. But scientists have developed several theories \u2013 four, to be precise:<\/p>\n