April 23, 2026 • 9 mins
Fainting goats don't really faint -- their muscles just lock up for a few extra seconds when they startle or get excited. Learn how myotonia works and why it can actually be a useful trait in goats in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/fainting-goat.htm
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff
Lauren vogelbam Here. Goats are the most multipurpose livestock animal
that I know of. They can be raised specifically as
a food source for their rich, slightly funky meat or milk.
(00:22):
When raised for their hair or hide, they produce some
of the most luxurious fibers on the market. Angora and
cashmere both come from goats. They're also happy to clear
land of overgrowth. In lots of places, you can rent
goats to essentially mow your lawn, and of course they
can make adorable and entertaining companions. One particular breed of goat, however,
(00:45):
is known for a rather different trait, suddenly stiffening up
and appearing to faint. Footage of these fainting goats occasionally
makes the rounds on social media. Yet despite all appearances,
these goats aren't weak of home heart or abnormally prone
to fright, and they're not actually fainting. They don't lose
consciousness at all during these episodes. They just fall over.
(01:09):
This is caused by what's basically a delay in the
relaxation of muscles that tends up involuntarily during surprise or
other excitement. Think of what happens when you startle, You
tense up. Briefly, what's happening in these goats is that
they lock into that tension for several seconds, and if
they happened to be on uneven ground when they tens,
(01:31):
they're likely to tip over. This happens due to a
genetic medical condition known as myotonia congenita, a congenita meaning
present at birth. The goats are more properly called myotonic,
not fainting. The severity of the condition varies. Some myotonic
goats will stiffen up every time they're startled, others less frequently.
(01:55):
Symptoms often lessen over time, and some animals are better
able to adapt to the condition. Younger goats are more
prone to tumble when startled, but as they grow older,
many eventually manage to avoid falling down at all during
episodes and may simply trot away on stiffened legs. Older
goats also tend to become more secure with their environment
(02:15):
and startle less easily. Today, let's talk about this rare
breed of goat and how my atonia affects their lives,
including how they even came to be considered a breed,
and why anyone would breed for my atonia in the
first place. To understand what happens what a myotonic goat startles, first,
let's look at what happens under normal conditions. When a
(02:39):
goat is surprised by a sudden movement or sound, or
maybe if it just saw a farmer friend and is
really excited about feeding time or getting to play. The
animal's eyes and ears relay that startling data to its brain,
which then sends an electrical signal to these skeletal muscles,
such as those in the leg and neck, involving voluntary movement,
(03:00):
causing a momentary tensing. This is often referred to as
the fight or flight response. Just think of how it
feels to be startled or have a friend remind you.
You'll find your voluntary muscles contract and tighten for a second.
This is your brain telling your muscles that the time
(03:20):
has come to possibly confront or run away from an
immediate threat. Though of course we experience this in other
situations too. You might feel a tense rush when you
get up to give a presentation or see someone that
you have a crush on. Normally, this tensing is followed
by an immediate relaxation of the affected muscles, allowing the
(03:42):
typical person or goat to turn and run away from
a perceived threat or otherwise respond to the situation. But
with my atonia, the muscles stay tensed for maybe five
to twenty seconds before slowly relaxing. It's not painful, and
the goats seem to recover just fine in the aftermath.
(04:02):
What's happening here is that, due to differing functions at
the cellular level, the voluntary muscles of my atonic animals
receive the electric signal from the brain to tense and
then keep tensing instead of releasing, sort of like a
skipping record. This happens because my aotonia affects a particular
gene called clcn one, or chloride channel one. This gene
(04:26):
is involved in the production and regulation of proteins, which
are vital to the flexing and relaxing of skeletal muscles. Basically,
positively charged sodium ions relay the brain's message for the
muscle cells to contract. Negatively charged chloride ions, which chloride
channel one affects, tell the muscle cells two relax. Myotonia
(04:48):
results in an abnormal channel of chloride ions, which throws
this relationship out of balance. The muscle cells wind up
with more than enough sodium but not enough chloride, which
uses repetitive electrical signals from the brain, such as those
associated with being startled, to result in stiffness. The condition
(05:09):
does happen in other animals as well, including humans. In people,
it's categorized into two types, named for researchers who broke
ground in their study, Thompson type and Becker type. Becker
type is more common and can be more severe, with
symptoms often delayed until a patient is a few years old.
(05:29):
Both are highly treatable with physical therapy, exercise, and or medication,
though of course we have a greater capacity to be
frustrated or embarrassed about it. The condition is hereditary and
can be either a dominant trait, in which the gene
only has to be inherited from one parent, or a
recessive trait, in which the gene is carried by both parents.
(05:51):
Aware fainting goats differ from other myotonic animals, however, is
that they are sometimes bred to encourage myotonia in their offspring.
Fainting goats only exist as a breed because humans want
them around. It's hard to imagine an animal with myetonia
congenita lasting long in the wild. If a predator was
to approach, the animal would stiffen up, and natural selection
(06:14):
would take its course. The strong survive and the weak parish.
That is, unless human breeders are there to protect the
weaker animals and encourage their traits. While my atonia likely
predates recorded history, the encouragement of the trait and goats
and the resulting emergence of fainting goats as a distinct
breed can be dated back to the early eighteen eighties
(06:36):
in Marshall County, Tennessee. Some accounts link the breed to
a particular farm worker named John Tinsley, who reportedly brought
a number of goats exhibiting symptoms of myetonia down from
Nova Scotia, Canada. Over a century later, herds of fainting
goats could be found throughout the United States. Humans have
(06:57):
always selectively bred animals for two base reasons, to encourage
certain behavioral traits and or to encourage certain physical features.
For example, a working farm dog may be bred for
herding instincts or stamina. Pet dogs may be bred for
their trainability or their cute, little fuzzy faces. My Atonic
(07:19):
goats are no different as pets or additions to a
farm that welcomes visitors. My Atonic goats are uniquely entertaining
and retain the temperament that makes most goats good companion animals.
But a thing about goats is that they are natural
climbers and jumpers, so they are also natural escape artists.
When fenced in. Farmers often need to expend extra effort
(07:43):
to keep the animals enclosed, but my atonia tends to
curb that behavior. The excitement of climbing and jumping can
triggerous spell, so the goats are more likely to stay put,
and when they are raised for their meat, all of
that excessive muscle tan can result in greater muscle mass,
less body fat, a higher meat to bone ratio, and
(08:05):
more tender meat than other breeds of goat. A whether
food or friend, Fainting goats don't seem to be going
away anytime soon, a numbering an estimated four to five
thousand in total, the animals are recognized as an official
breed and are raised throughout the US and beyond. Enthusiasts
have even established breed standards and regularly show their prize
(08:27):
animals at livestock festivals. Today's episode is based on the
article how fainting Goats Work on how stuffworks dot Com,
written by Robert Lamb. Brain Stuff is production of by
Heart Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and
is produced by Tyler Klain. For four more podcasts from
my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(08:50):
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey brain Stuff
Lauren vogelbam Here. Goats are the most multipurpose livestock animal
that I know of. They can be raised specifically as
a food source for their rich, slightly funky meat or milk.
(00:22):
When raised for their hair or hide, they produce some
of the most luxurious fibers on the market. Angora and
cashmere both come from goats. They're also happy to clear
land of overgrowth. In lots of places, you can rent
goats to essentially mow your lawn, and of course they
can make adorable and entertaining companions. One particular breed of goat, however,
(00:45):
is known for a rather different trait, suddenly stiffening up
and appearing to faint. Footage of these fainting goats occasionally
makes the rounds on social media. Yet despite all appearances,
these goats aren't weak of home heart or abnormally prone
to fright, and they're not actually fainting. They don't lose
consciousness at all during these episodes. They just fall over.
(01:09):
This is caused by what's basically a delay in the
relaxation of muscles that tends up involuntarily during surprise or
other excitement. Think of what happens when you startle, You
tense up. Briefly, what's happening in these goats is that
they lock into that tension for several seconds, and if
they happened to be on uneven ground when they tens,
(01:31):
they're likely to tip over. This happens due to a
genetic medical condition known as myotonia congenita, a congenita meaning
present at birth. The goats are more properly called myotonic,
not fainting. The severity of the condition varies. Some myotonic
goats will stiffen up every time they're startled, others less frequently.
(01:55):
Symptoms often lessen over time, and some animals are better
able to adapt to the condition. Younger goats are more
prone to tumble when startled, but as they grow older,
many eventually manage to avoid falling down at all during
episodes and may simply trot away on stiffened legs. Older
goats also tend to become more secure with their environment
(02:15):
and startle less easily. Today, let's talk about this rare
breed of goat and how my atonia affects their lives,
including how they even came to be considered a breed,
and why anyone would breed for my atonia in the
first place. To understand what happens what a myotonic goat startles, first,
let's look at what happens under normal conditions. When a
(02:39):
goat is surprised by a sudden movement or sound, or
maybe if it just saw a farmer friend and is
really excited about feeding time or getting to play. The
animal's eyes and ears relay that startling data to its brain,
which then sends an electrical signal to these skeletal muscles,
such as those in the leg and neck, involving voluntary movement,
(03:00):
causing a momentary tensing. This is often referred to as
the fight or flight response. Just think of how it
feels to be startled or have a friend remind you.
You'll find your voluntary muscles contract and tighten for a second.
This is your brain telling your muscles that the time
(03:20):
has come to possibly confront or run away from an
immediate threat. Though of course we experience this in other
situations too. You might feel a tense rush when you
get up to give a presentation or see someone that
you have a crush on. Normally, this tensing is followed
by an immediate relaxation of the affected muscles, allowing the
(03:42):
typical person or goat to turn and run away from
a perceived threat or otherwise respond to the situation. But
with my atonia, the muscles stay tensed for maybe five
to twenty seconds before slowly relaxing. It's not painful, and
the goats seem to recover just fine in the aftermath.
(04:02):
What's happening here is that, due to differing functions at
the cellular level, the voluntary muscles of my atonic animals
receive the electric signal from the brain to tense and
then keep tensing instead of releasing, sort of like a
skipping record. This happens because my aotonia affects a particular
gene called clcn one, or chloride channel one. This gene
(04:26):
is involved in the production and regulation of proteins, which
are vital to the flexing and relaxing of skeletal muscles. Basically,
positively charged sodium ions relay the brain's message for the
muscle cells to contract. Negatively charged chloride ions, which chloride
channel one affects, tell the muscle cells two relax. Myotonia
(04:48):
results in an abnormal channel of chloride ions, which throws
this relationship out of balance. The muscle cells wind up
with more than enough sodium but not enough chloride, which
uses repetitive electrical signals from the brain, such as those
associated with being startled, to result in stiffness. The condition
(05:09):
does happen in other animals as well, including humans. In people,
it's categorized into two types, named for researchers who broke
ground in their study, Thompson type and Becker type. Becker
type is more common and can be more severe, with
symptoms often delayed until a patient is a few years old.
(05:29):
Both are highly treatable with physical therapy, exercise, and or medication,
though of course we have a greater capacity to be
frustrated or embarrassed about it. The condition is hereditary and
can be either a dominant trait, in which the gene
only has to be inherited from one parent, or a
recessive trait, in which the gene is carried by both parents.
(05:51):
Aware fainting goats differ from other myotonic animals, however, is
that they are sometimes bred to encourage myotonia in their offspring.
Fainting goats only exist as a breed because humans want
them around. It's hard to imagine an animal with myetonia
congenita lasting long in the wild. If a predator was
to approach, the animal would stiffen up, and natural selection
(06:14):
would take its course. The strong survive and the weak parish.
That is, unless human breeders are there to protect the
weaker animals and encourage their traits. While my atonia likely
predates recorded history, the encouragement of the trait and goats
and the resulting emergence of fainting goats as a distinct
breed can be dated back to the early eighteen eighties
(06:36):
in Marshall County, Tennessee. Some accounts link the breed to
a particular farm worker named John Tinsley, who reportedly brought
a number of goats exhibiting symptoms of myetonia down from
Nova Scotia, Canada. Over a century later, herds of fainting
goats could be found throughout the United States. Humans have
(06:57):
always selectively bred animals for two base reasons, to encourage
certain behavioral traits and or to encourage certain physical features.
For example, a working farm dog may be bred for
herding instincts or stamina. Pet dogs may be bred for
their trainability or their cute, little fuzzy faces. My Atonic
(07:19):
goats are no different as pets or additions to a
farm that welcomes visitors. My Atonic goats are uniquely entertaining
and retain the temperament that makes most goats good companion animals.
But a thing about goats is that they are natural
climbers and jumpers, so they are also natural escape artists.
When fenced in. Farmers often need to expend extra effort
(07:43):
to keep the animals enclosed, but my atonia tends to
curb that behavior. The excitement of climbing and jumping can
triggerous spell, so the goats are more likely to stay put,
and when they are raised for their meat, all of
that excessive muscle tan can result in greater muscle mass,
less body fat, a higher meat to bone ratio, and
(08:05):
more tender meat than other breeds of goat. A whether
food or friend, Fainting goats don't seem to be going
away anytime soon, a numbering an estimated four to five
thousand in total, the animals are recognized as an official
breed and are raised throughout the US and beyond. Enthusiasts
have even established breed standards and regularly show their prize
(08:27):
animals at livestock festivals. Today's episode is based on the
article how fainting Goats Work on how stuffworks dot Com,
written by Robert Lamb. Brain Stuff is production of by
Heart Radio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and
is produced by Tyler Klain. For four more podcasts from
my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
(08:50):
wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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Host
Lauren Vogelbaum
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