10 interesting facts about tickling

We can't tickle ourselves

If another person's touch can cause tickling, why can't we tickle ourselves? Scientists suggest that our cerebellum can distinguish unexpected touch from expected sensations, and this suppresses the tickle response. When we try to tickle ourselves, the brain anticipates this and prepares for the tickling.

. Perhaps a person developed different reactions to the expected and the unexpected in order to better protect himself from enemies.

Why are some people not afraid of tickling?

I think it's all about the level of sensitivity. Just like in the case of pain. Everyone has their own pain threshold, especially since it is different for men and women. The latter are more sensitive, so it is easy to make them laugh with tickling, and not only that. Besides, men are simply better at restraining themselves.

It is not appropriate for a stern man to show pain or fear, especially if it is fear of such inherently harmless tickling.

As for me, of course, I feel touches on my body during tickling, but nothing more. I always notice that I'm about to be tickled before the tickling actually begins. Perhaps the brain, understanding this, adjusts itself in a certain way and groups the body so as not to experience any fear of this seemingly innocent prank.

For this very reason, we are not afraid of tickling when we try to tickle ourselves. British scientists confirm the fact that the human brain differentiates expected and unexpected touches, thereby suppressing the reaction to independent tickling. By the way, some people still manage to tickle themselves, but they are diagnosed with schizophrenia.

How to tickle a person who is not ticklish?

To the question of how to tickle a person who is not ticklish, I have several answer options. Option one is silent: you tickle him as much as you want, but this will make him neither hot nor cold.

Option two: try tickling him suddenly, on the sly, so to speak. You can also ask a person from whom the victim definitely does not expect tickling to do this.

Option three: tickle such a person in the most “ticklish” places. There is an opinion that such places are those that were most vulnerable in battle: these are the feet (also the “Achilles heel”) and the armpits (the vein and artery in this place lead directly to the heart). They are followed by the neck and chest.

What will happen to a person if you tickle him for a long time?

So without thinking twice, I got straight to the point. I decided to tickle my friend to death, otherwise she got off on the wrong foot again today. And he tickled her for a long time, without stopping and not paying attention to her “That’s enough!” So she immediately chuckled, and then she started crying, I was really scared. I had to interrupt the experiment and turn to theory. It turned out that tickling is an unconscious protective reaction of our body, which was inherited by us in the process of Darwinian evolution from our smaller brothers and served as a clear way for them to detect the presence of “strangers” (unsafe insects) on their skin.

Therefore, our brain still perceives tickling as a signal of a potential threat. So why do we neigh like horses when they tickle us?

All the same scientists have found that laughter when tickled has nothing to do with fun, it is just the body’s reaction to excessive nervous tension. And the father of the so-called associative psychology, David Hartley, generally calls laughter from tickling interrupted by “incipient crying.” It turns out that the phrases “to be afraid of tickling” and “to tickle one’s nerves” are quite justified. Now I know, both in practice and in theory, what will happen to a person if you tickle him for a long time - he will definitely cry and fall into hysterics. But what would happen if I continued the tickle torture?

tickle torture

In the history of mankind, there were still precedents for the use of tickling as bodily torture. Even in ancient Rome, feet were dipped in a salty solution, and then they were given to goats to lick it off. Yes, very perverted torture. Rumor has it that the Nazis also did not neglect tickling with goose feathers as corporal punishment. History is silent about whether there were deaths among those who experienced tickle torture.

Consequences of tickling

When I turned to my doctor friend with the question of whether it is possible to die from tickling? He answered that from tickling itself - no, but from its consequences, which are sometimes difficult to foresee - hypothetically, yes, although in fact such cases have not been recorded.

The consequences of tickling can be very different: both positive (remember how children love tickling or the sensation of being touched by a loved one) and negative. Nowadays there is even such a direction as tickle therapy. We get pleasure from tickling because in the body in stressful situations (and tickling is precisely that) there is a surge of adrenaline - a hormone responsible for the instinct of self-preservation. As a result of such overexcitation, vasoconstriction occurs and, accordingly, pressure increases.

The human body, especially susceptible to prolonged tickling, is greatly overexerted in attempts to get rid of the external stimulus, and each subsequent, even very light touch is accompanied by a fit of uncontrollable laughter and leads to muscle spasms and cramps, often accompanied by pain. The muscles of the respiratory system are also exposed to this effect, and this is already extremely dangerous, especially for people with problems with the heart or respiratory system.

The most ticklish spots are the most vulnerable spots during an attack.

The soles of the feet and armpits are considered two of the most sensitive places on our body. In addition, most ticklish areas such as the neck, chest, and genital area are also the most vulnerable in battles.

The axillary cavity contains the axillary vein and artery, and it provides easy access to the heart, which is not protected by the chest

. The neck also contains two important arteries in the human body that supply blood to the brain. The trachea, which carries air to the lungs, is also located in the neck.

What does tickling give a person?

The intense impact on the skin of the fingertips causes a person to have both a protective and joyful reaction. The most sensitive areas for tickling are the feet, neck, armpits and stomach.

Tickling is a kind of game that evokes positive emotions. During it, breathing quickens, the heartbeat slightly accelerates, and gusty laughter occurs.

After the cessation of prolonged tickling, a feeling of slight fatigue appears. This is an excellent process of releasing energy that children unconsciously do during play. And some adults in a friendly company may lightly tickle each other for fun.

Tickling is our body's warning system.

Just like itching, tickling can protect us by directing our attention to external stimuli, such as predators or parasites. This type of tickling, called knimesis - light tickling, rarely causes laughter and is common in humans and animals.

Scientists have discovered that the feeling we get when we are tickled makes us panic and is a natural defense mechanism against crawling insects such as spiders and beetles.

How to arrange a session

The main advantage of tikling is that you don’t have to buy special devices - your hands are also enough. However, if you feel the need, you can stock up on devices that will gently stimulate your partner: for example, feathers or brushes. You will also need good dexterity and knowledge of your partner’s “weak” points. Skilled ticklers recommend starting tickling with the feet, and then moving on to the ribs and armpits. They also note that at first you can “poke” your partner - sharply move a point on the body with your fingers or chopsticks. Then it’s time to move on to scratching - without stopping, moving over those places that you have already stimulated with claws, combs or brushes. Also, tickle masters suggest that you should not obey momentary impulses and put pressure on the ribs: this will cause pain to your partner. It is better to lightly move your fingers over them, as if playing with them.

Tickling can turn into torture

There have been cases in history where tickling was used as corporal punishment. There is evidence that the Nazis used tickling as torture. The ancient Romans also used a special type of torture. They tied up the offenders, dipped their feet in salt water and forced the goats to lick it off. Over time, the tickling became very painful.

As for death from tickling, there is evidence that a person can die from laughter, which means it is theoretically possible to some extent.

Explanations

Despite all the scientific advances, researchers have still not come to a consensus regarding the causes of the sensation of tickling.

There is a version that the distant ancestors of humans reflexively reacted to small parasites on the skin, like, for example, a cat supposedly “twitches” its skin when something crawls there. So the person still has echoes of this property in such a deformed form. But there is a catch here too. Northern peoples react to tickling no worse than others, although there were no small parasites there in the first place.

Tickling was often used as an instrument of torture.

“A good mood generator” is what some researchers call tickling. Since a person is a social being who, in principle, cannot exist without his own kind, his body has a function where another person can stimulate the internal resources of the body, thereby ensuring better enrichment of the blood with useful substances and increasing resistance to both various diseases and to stress.

Tickling, according to the popular version, helps to establish an emotional connection between mother and child, which is one of the first forms of interaction.

If we remember monkeys again, researchers believe that they can express sympathy through tickling.

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Things to remember

The main rule in tikling is adherence to the principle of BDR - safety, reasonableness, voluntariness. Although tickling won't cause any serious harm to your partner, don't forget that playing for too long can make your tickle go berserk. Skilled subjects often encountered the fact that not everyone likes tickling, and therefore in 2008 a tickling code was created in Russia. Here are its main principles:

– Tikling is not violence. Tickling is a process in which people take part of their own free will and have the right to stop at any time. Tikley is recognized only by those who volunteered for the session of their own free will and without coercion; – tikling should in no case harm the physical or mental health of the tikli. At the same time, it is allowed to play out the situation when the tiklya “dies of laughter” in stories or thematic films.

Two!

Tickling brings not only pleasant sensations. (Who ever decided that it could feel good?) Tickle torture was used in ancient China, Japan and, according to some sources, the Nazis. For this they used bird feathers, brushes, and sometimes the heels of the victim were allowed to be licked by a goat. With prolonged tickling, the sensitivity of the nerve endings increased so much that even the lightest touch caused pain. If the torture is continued for a long time, it can lead to spasms of the respiratory tract and death from suffocation.