Now this just doesn’t seem fair.

A group of apparently evil scientists led by author Milica Nikolić, a psychologist at the University of Amsterdam, wanted to dig deep into the mystery of blushing, a reaction that Charles Darwin called “the most human of all expressions”.

Relatively little is known about the mechanics of blushing, defined by the researchers as “the reddening of the face owing to heightened self-awareness”, adding “Theories diverge on whether it is a rapid, spontaneous emotional response that does not involve reflection upon the self or whether it results from higher-order socio-cognitive processes.”

The team reasoned that the best way to get the participants to blush was by asking them to sing Adele’s “Hello” and “Let It Go” from the movie Frozen.

Just brutal selections to try and get on the mic for.

Dozens of 16-20 year old volunteers – all women, because only two men signed up – belted out the well-known tunes while being recorded, and were then asked TO WATCH THEIR PERFORMANCES BACK.

No. Just no.

About a week after the initial performances, participants were brought back to the lab, put in an MRI scanner to monitor brain activity, affixed with temperature sensors on their cheeks.

They were subjected to not only their own performances, but some of the other participants’ as well. A lot of blushing ensued.

“Is it just being in the social situation where you are exposed and center of attention, and you feel the exposure, and attention from others,” Nikolić told The Guardian. “Or is it more complex and that we start thinking about how we look and appear to other people?”

The team discovered that participants blushed more while watching their own performances rather than when they watched others sing.

They also learned that the blushing coincided with higher activity in the cerebellum, the part of the brain associated with emotional arousal, suggesting that “it may occur independently of higher-order socio-cognitive processes,” the researchers wrote.

Put simply, blushing isn’t necessarily a result of being embarrassed around others, but may just be an involuntary reaction.

“Blushing can come simply from being exposed,” Nikolić told The Guardian. “In that very short moment you maybe don’t think about how do I look and so on. I think it’s more automatic than the theory says.”

Whether it’s an uncontrollable response or a reaction to public exposure, it’s clear that blushing can be elicited through public performance – or at the very least, watching yourself belt out some karaoke tunes.

Which honestly wasn’t much of a surprise.