A visual scientist who suffers from trypophobia decided to investigate the phenomenon with his colleague. They performed spectral analysis on images that induce trypophobia and found that the fear-inducing images all had similar characteristics related to luminescence, contrast and light wavelengths. But they didn't know why these features caused such an adverse reaction.

 

A study participant mentioned that certain animals also induced his phobia. So the researchers analyzed pictures of poisonous animals. They discovered that the trypophobia-inducing images and those of poisonous animals shared the same visual features, suggesting the fear may be an evolutionary survival response. The study is in the journal Psychological Science. 

 

So if an English muffin induces a panic attack, your brain may just be saying better safe than sorry.