The Mind-Skin Connection Blushing when you're embarrassed. Sweating when you're anxious. Breaking out under stress. Though you might not realize it, your skin and your mind are inextricably connected, starting in the womb. "After the sperm and egg come together, three germ layers form at 5 to 8 weeks," says Dr. Josie Howard, M.D., a clinical instructor in the psychiatry and dermatology departments at University of California, San Francisco, and a member of the Simple Skincare Advisory Board. One of the germ layers, the ectoderm, will split to form both the nervous system (which controls the fight-or-flight response) and the skin. Howard points to this connection as the reason you're sometimes forced to wear your heart on our sleeve (e.g., blushing after a mistake or sweating profusely during a first date).
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