Are you nervous or anxious about an upcoming exam? Well, not to worry because you are not alone as your classmates can smell your fear and empathize. The smell of fear really does exist. According to a new psychological study published in the online science journal PLoS ONE “Induction of Empathy by the Smell of Anxiety,” being terrified is infectious. The study, conducted by Bettina Pause and colleagues at the University of Dusseldorf, Germany, suggests that people subconsciously detect whether others are scared by picking up on chemicals that they release from their bodies.

Researchers placed absorbent cotton pads under the armpits of 49 student volunteers one hour prior to them taking their final oral exam at the university. Researchers also collected sweat samples from the same group of students while working out on exercise bikes. An additional group of 28 student volunteers sniffed the cotton pads while their brains were monitored with an MRI scanner. No one in the latter group was able to tell the difference between “panic sweat” and the “exercise sweat.” However, their brains told a different story. The students’ brains had strong reactions to the “panic sweat.” Researchers found the regions of the brain that handle emotional and social signals became active as a reaction of the “panic sweat.” The region of the brain that handles empathy also became active triggered by the “panic sweat.”

Researchers concluded that anxiety prompts the release of a chemical that bypasses conscious experience, automatically triggering similar feelings in anyone who sniffs it.