Introduction
Have you ever been tickled mercilessly by someone? Tickling is a really fun way to make people laugh, so intense that it can be painful and hard to breathe for the people who are extra ticklish. It is a very common thing for people to do to each other: parents to their kids, siblings to each other, and couples to each other to show affection. It happens when someone lightly touches or pokes sensitive or ticklish areas of the body. Ticklish areas vary from person to person; they can be under the ribcage, on the soles of the feet, behind the neck, and behind the kneecaps.
Why we can’t tickle ourselves?
But have you ever thought that if other people can make you lose your composure by tickling you, why can’t you do it to yourself? Why can’t we tickle ourselves? You can touch every area that is sensitive and ticklish, but your response is very mild or not at all compared to the laughter that comes out when someone else is tickling you.
So what makes other people’s touch so different from your own, and why can they make you laugh by tickling but you can’t?
What is it?
When someone else tickles you, your brain cannot predict exactly where or when the next touch will happen. This unpredictability makes the sensation more intense and can trigger an automatic response, such as laughter, squirming, or pulling away. Your brain is constantly trying to predict the unexpected things; it likes to know its surroundings, so the things it can’t predict make it uneasy. But when you tickle yourself, your brain can predict the outcome and react accordingly; the reaction will be very mild.
How does it work?
Ever wondered how the brain knows whether the touch is external or self-made? The answer lies in the cerebellum, a part of the brain that helps predict the sensory effects of your movements. When you move your hand to tickle yourself, your brain receives a copy of the movement command. This helps it predict what the touch will feel like. Because the sensation is expected, the brain reduces how strongly you perceive it. Scientists call this copy of the movement command an efference copy.
In contrast, when another person tickles you, your brain can’t predict the exact timing, location or pressure. Because the touch isn’t produced by your own predictable movement, your brain can’t prepare for the sensation in the same way. As a result, the tickling feels much stronger.
It matters how?
Tickling is a good way of bonding. People who share deep affection tickle each other for fun; it strengthens the bonds and shows how comfortable they are with each other. Tickling is a good way of play-fighting that strengthens connections between parent and child, couples, siblings, and friends. Being tickled stimulates the hypothalamus, triggering fight-or-flight responses and autonomic reactions like laughter and sweating.
Conclusion
Tickling is one of the earliest triggers for laughter. Laughter is really good for you because it triggers healthy physical and emotional changes that improve overall well-being without side effects.
So, if you ever try to tickle yourself, remember that it’s not going to work, or the sensation will be very mild, not because you’re unable, but because a part of your brain knows what you are going to do. There is also an experiment for self-tickling; some scientists created a robot holding a feather that tickles you at a time, and it turns out your brain can predict that also, but if the robot is delayed, you’ll feel the tickling.
