(HealthDayNews) -- What's the difference between shivering and trembling?
Shivering is the body's way of trying to stay warm. It's prompted by the automatic thermostat in your brain -- the small area of nerve fibers called the hypothalamus. When the hypothalamus senses a drop in body temperature, it orders the muscles to move to create more heat. That rapid, rather uniform muscle action is shivering, according to Jeanne K. Hanson, author of Your Amazing Body, from Headaches to Sweaty Feet and Everything in Between.
Trembling, although it involves the same contraction and relaxing of muscles, means your motor nerves and your muscles are briefly out of coordination. Trembling can be caused by exhaustion, fear, happiness, guilt, excitement or any combination of those feelings.
But your body reacts differently to each situation. When you tremble because of tiredness, it's usually the muscles that are responsible. And when you tremble out of fear, it's your nerves.
