by Zoe Pollock
Romantic thoughts or actions can trigger a sneeze:
[N]ot all sneezes are actually triggered through the nose. In fact, there appear to be multiple pathways involved. [Mahmood Bhutta, a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford who published a paper in 2008 titled “Sneezing induced by sexual ideation or orgasm: an under-reported phenomenon”] makes a pretty strong case for the parasympathetic nervous system as a common variable among the more bizarre sneezing triggers: photic sensitivity (sneezing when exposed to light, otherwise known as ACHOO syndrome); an exceptionally full stomach (otherwise known as snatiation, a portmanteau of “sneeze” and “satiation,” also an acronym among smug jerks in the medical community that stands for “Sneezing Noncontrollably At a Tune of Indulgence of the Appetite — a Trait Inherited and Ordained to be Named”); and, of course, sexy thoughts.
Essentially, the autonomic nervous system is so old and lizard-brain-like that it functions without our input. It formed before just about everything else in our bodies did, and because it’s so basic, certain pathways never really separated as our bodies developed.
The Dish 