The brain controls personal space, prompting a response to back away when someone gets too close. Researchers have identified two areas in the brain that trigger this feeling. Personal space varies among individuals and develops from childhood. Acceptable space ranges from intimate to social depending on the relationship.
Everyone has their own personal space, closely monitored by the brain. If a stranger, or even an acquaintance, gets too close, your brain initiates an automatic response, instinctively prompting you to back away. Researchers studying personal space, more accurately known as “peripersonal space,” have documented this brain-controlled buffer zone around your body. It’s a basic survival mechanism, they say, and all kinds of animals, from insects to monkeys, also have an innate sense of personal space.
Getting a little too personal:
Researchers have identified two areas in the brain, the premotor cortex in the frontal lobe and the parietal lobe, that trigger this uncomfortable feeling when personal space is violated.
Monitoring personal space is important for survival. If something is too close, you could be in danger. But neutral space requirements vary among different people and develop individually from childhood to adulthood.
Research in the 1960s identified “bubbles” of acceptable space between humans, from “intimate space” (up to 18 inches or 46 cm) and “personal space” (up to 4 feet or 1.2 m) to family and friends, a “social space” (up to 12ft or 3.7m) for new acquaintances and strangers.
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