Why exactly do we shiver?

Answer 1

By shivering, our muscles generate heat - similar to rubbing your hands together to warm them up. So, in essence, it's to keep you warm.

Answer 2

Shivering is a bodily function in response to early hypothermia in warm-blooded animals. When the core body temperature drops, the shivering reflex is triggered. Muscle groups around the vital organs begin to shake in small movements in an attempt to create warmth by expending energy. Shivering can also be a response to a fever as a person may feel cold, though their core temperature is already elevated.

Located in the dorsomedial portion of the hypothalamus near the wall of the third ventricle is an area called the primary motor center for shivering. This area is normally inhibited by signals from the heat center in the anterior hypothalamic-preoptic area but is excited by cold signals from the skin and spinal cord. Therefore, this center becomes activated when the body temperature falls even a fraction of a degree below a critical temperature level.

Answer 3

When we shiver, our bodies are doing the opposite of sweating. Sweating cools the body by putting a layer of liquid on the skin. Shivering tightens the skin and shakes the muscles, a process that conserves and generates heat.

Answer 4

Because were are cold and the body wants to warm up so we shiver. I'm guessing it keeps the body moving when we shiver making it less cold!

Answer 5

Shivering is one of the methods that the human body uses to warm itself. It is a neurological reaction, that the body executes when it gets too cold. Joggers are familiar with the concept of moving to stay warm; they run in the coldest of weather and manage to stay warm. Basic physics dictate that energy taken from a storage source (like our fat) and changed to another form of energy (your body movements), results in yet another form of energy - heat. So when your muscles start moving back and fourth rapidly, they make heat, which helps warm the body in the cold. Some people have a different tolerance for cold, and in fact those who shiver easier, can withstand colder temperatures.

Answer 6

Shivering is our bodies biological response to keep warm. Shivering causes neurons in your muscle fibers to activate and send electric-type signal to each other which, in turn, causes the muscles to twitch, effectively causing an "involuntary" movement to keep you warm. Try walking when you are cold. You will warm up soon, as does the shivering warm you up when you are not doing gross motor movements (walking, running, exercising, etc).

Answer 7

Friction produces heat, so shivering is the body's way of trying to warm things up.

Answer 8

Basic eough, to keep warm.

Answer 9

to keep warm