After a long day of work, I was relieved. I had been working since 4pm in a circuitry lab, on the next big project. I observed the sun just starting to descend as I started to walk out to my car. All of a sudden, however, I had an urge to sneeze furiously! If it’s the middle of January on a windy day, what’s happening here?
Answer
I have what’s called the photic sneeze reflex.
A few people have this quality which makes them sneeze when they are subjected to bright light, like the sun… especially if they are just coming from a darker room or place. About 20-25% of people have the photic sneeze reflex. The funny thing is it’s difficult to monitor who has it and who doesn’t… because all people who have this reflex tend to assume that all people have it and those who don’t have it don’t recognize this as a possibility!