Sneezes -- Voluntary or Involuntary?

[anorlunda]

I sneeze often, violently, loudly, and sometimes in series of 7.

I googled "Sneezes. Voluntary or Involuntary?" I find a lot of forum posts with opinions -- roughly 50/50 yes/no.

Wikipedia says that it a reflexive action. Reflexes are usually though to be involuntary. However the article also includes this section which implies voluntary modulation at least. But the references all have paywalls.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflex#Reflex_modulation

I do know:

• Once I start to sneeze, the rest is involuntary.
• They say people don't sneeze while sleeping.
• Bright light can trigger it, but dark does not inhibit.
• I can stifle a sneeze or a series to be less loud.
• I have never swerved into another lane when driving a car, nor lost control during a sneezing fit while landing an airplane, nor sprayed food out of my mouth. That implies that some secondary body effects can be voluntarily stifled, even if the sneezing continues.
• In some social situations, I believe that I have never sneezed. For example, when delivering a speech. A search of YouTube revealed only one film clip of a news anchor sneezing on TV. That implies at least some degree of social modulation of the sneeze reflex. I suspect that the same might apply to the cough reflex.

Is there any definitive science on this question?

 

[berkeman]

I'm no help on the science, but I have a couple questions...

• Can you pause the sneeze using the trick of pressing your index finger firmly against your uppler lip (just below your nose)?
• If you blow your nose after the first sneeze, does that eliminate the usual others that follow?
• Did you notice a difference in the frequency of this happening when you were at sea versus living on land?

 

[Vanadium 50]

My old dog could sneeze on command.

 

[anorlunda]

Novel questions.

Can you pause the sneeze using the trick of pressing your index finger firmly against your upper lip (just below your nose)?

I never heard of that one. I'll try it.

If you blow your nose after the first sneeze, does that eliminate the usual others that follow?

It might, but there's no time. It's like 7 sneezes in 10 seconds.

Did you notice a difference in the frequency of this happening when you were at sea versus living on land?

Definitely not. I've been wondering about this for years, so I've been on the alert for an environmental change that would change it. So far, nothing seems to change it substantially. North/south winter/summer day/night at sea/ashore, also independent of age going back 60 years.

I sometimes use a anti-allergy nasal spray to stop a runny nose, and that stops some sneezing but the sneeze fits seem disconnected from that. Having a cold causes more sneezing, but fits seem disconnected from that too. Frequency varies from 1-2 fits per day to 1-2 per week.

 

[BillTre]

Once I start to sneeze, the rest is involuntary.

This sounds like a fixed action pattern in animal behavior.

A fixed action pattern is an ethological term describing an instinctive behavioral sequence that is highly stereotyped and species-characteristic.[1] Fixed action patterns are said to be produced by the innate releasing mechanism, a "hard-wired" neural network, in response to a sign stimulus or releaser.[1][2] Once released, a fixed action pattern runs to completion.[1]

 

[OCR]

I sneeze often. . . sometimes in series of 7.

Lol, that kinda sucks, doesn't it ?

Especially, the last couple, or so, that just seem to "hang there". . . . Do you get a small tickling sensation in the upper back part of your throat, right

before the pleasantries start ? .

Can you pause the sneeze using the trick of pressing your index finger firmly against your uppler lip (just below your nose)?

Nope. . . none of the old tricks seem to work for me.

.

 

[jim mcnamara]

Short answer - involuntary (reflexive)
Aside from anecdotes -
https://share.upmc.com/2015/01/get-know-brain-stem/
Sneezing abnormalities - like the series you describe, are triggered by the the trigeminal nerve.
"Coordination" of sneezing and associated upper respiratory air pressure, etc., is under the control of the autonomic nervous system - the medulla (brain stem). So sneezing generally is reflexive, just like the knee-jerk (patellar) reflex.

Discussion of the hypothesis of why we sneeze, short answer is we sneeze to expel irritants:
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-do-we-sneeze/

FWIW primates, canids (dog-like animals) and felids (cat-like animals) all can sneeze.

 

[anorlunda]

This sounds like a fixed action pattern in animal behavior.

Wow. That's exotic. I have no basis to refute that.

So sneezing generally is reflexive, just like the knee-jerk (patellar) reflex.

True, but the Wikipedia article on reflex says this:

Naively, we might imagine that reflexes are immutable. In reality, however, most reflexes are flexible and can be substantially modified to match the requirements of the behavior in both vertebrates and invertebrates.[4][5][6]

A good example of reflex modulation is the stretch reflex.[7][8][9][10] When a muscle is stretched at rest, the stretch reflex leads to contraction of the muscle, thereby opposing stretch (resistance reflex). This helps to stabilize posture. During voluntary movements, however, the intensity (gain) of the reflex is reduced or its sign is even reversed. This prevents resistance reflexes from impeding movements.

The underlying sites and mechanisms of reflex modulation are not fully understood. There is evidence that the output of sensory neurons is directly modulated during behavior—for example, through presynaptic inhibition.[11][12] The effect of sensory input upon motor neurons is also influenced by interneurons in the spinal cord or ventral nerve cord[10] and by descending signals from the brain.

 

[Evo]

Ok, not going to read through all of the anecdotal remarks on sneezing.

I have HORRIBLE allergies. My last husband said my descendants should be born with tufts of kleenex at the end of their wrists, but I ONLY sneeze as a reaction to an irritant, like dust.

I thinking sneezing is normally a reaction to an irritant. My ex swears looking at the sun makes him sneeze

Some researchers have since applied the appropriate acronym ACHOO: Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst Syndrome. An estimated 10 to 35 percent of the population has a photic sneeze reflex. ... Sunlight is a trigger, but artificial illumination from light bulbs and camera flashes can also cause sneezes.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/does-the-sun-make-you-sneeze#:~:text=Some researchers have since applied,has a photic sneeze reflex.&text=Sunlight is a trigger, but,flashes can also cause sneezes.

Apparently there is some truth to this.