Why are people afraid of being tickled. Interesting facts about being ticklish. How did scientific interest in this issue arise?

19.06.2017 13:06 5761

Why are some people ticklish.

"I'll tickle you, I'll tickle you!" Surely you are familiar with this and you also often play like this with your parents. And when, in response to your attempts, no adult reaction occurs, you are indignant - "Well, why am I afraid of being tickled, but you are not?"

Indeed, why are some people very afraid of tickling, do not like it, while others do not evoke any emotions at all?

Before answering this question, you must first understand what tickling is. This is the feeling that is caused by a light touch on the skin. The most sensitive and ticklish places on the human body are the ribs, abdomen, neck, dimples under the knees, as well as the soles of the feet and armpits.

What caused such a reaction of the body? And why are some people ticklish and others not? Scientists have found that tickling is nothing more than one of the protective reactions of our body against external stimuli.

For example, if we feel the paws of some harmful insect tickling us (mosquito, etc.), we can drive it away before it bites us. In addition, tickling can perfectly improve mood. Of course not to everyone, but only to those people who treat her positively.

As for the question why some people are ticklish and some are not, scientists answer it like this: people who have a weak sensitivity of the body as a whole are not afraid of tickling.

It is also believed that those who have the right strong-willed attitude are not susceptible to tickling, their body is not distracted by such trifles. And this means that susceptibility to tickling largely depends on the mood of the person.

Another interesting question related to tickling is why do we laugh when we are tickled? By the way, he is interested in many children. Even science still cannot give an unambiguous answer to it.

laughter is a reaction to something funny. But tickling has nothing to do with humor. Therefore, some scientists think that laughter during tickling is something similar to screaming, as in pain.

And finally, the last thing you want to know about tickling - can we somehow protect ourselves from it? To stop being afraid of tickling like that all of a sudden, of course, is impossible, this feeling passes (or becomes not so bright) only over the years.

However, scientists suggest that it is possible to reduce the discomfort experienced during tickling. What is needed for this? You just need to touch the person who tickles you.

How will it help? Everyone knows that when a person tries to tickle himself, nothing happens. And if your brain thinks that you are tickling yourself, then the discomfort will decrease.

This is due to the fact that the brain prepares in advance and understands that there will be nothing bad from such touches, therefore, there will be no reaction either.

Hello! Tickling causes a reaction in all people. Some react more, some less. This reaction usually manifests itself in the form of laughter, but at the same time this process is not very pleasant for us. So why does the body need to react in such a way to the manipulations of the tickler, and why are we ticklish?

You should know that there are two types of tickling. The first one really “makes you laugh”, and the other just causes discomfort.

Some animals also feel tickled. These, of course, include monkeys, which can emit laughter; rats - they make high-frequency sounds that are elusive to our ears; however, on YouTube you can find a lot of giggling dogs, penguins and dolphins, which should also be taken into account. Research is now underway on the sounds that different animals make when tickled in order to recognize the primitive makings of laughter in them.

Some animals also react to being tickled.

Why are some places more sensitive to tickling?

Armpits, lower abdomen and heels- places most vulnerable to tickling. These are places that are not so rarely in contact with other people. During an attack, these places are the most vulnerable, because. important arteries and veins pass through them. Nature intentionally made these places more sensitive so that the body could instantly respond to danger from the outside.

How does this happen

Yes, just like almost any other reflex! Nerve endings are stimulated, send an impulse to the brain, which makes us laugh. However, not everything is so simple, because this process simultaneously involves a part of the brain that determines whether this sensation is pleasant for the brain or not, and an area in the hypothalamus, from where an automatic reaction to a threat comes from. It turns out in two ways, but at least it is clear why we are afraid of being tickled at the reflex level. But what causes the brain to react in this way?

Explanations

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

"Generator Have a good mood”- this is what some researchers call tickling. Since a person is a social being who, in principle, cannot exist without his own kind, a function is provided in his body when another person can excite the internal resources of the body, thereby ensuring better blood enrichment. useful substances and increased resistance to both various diseases and 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.

Thinking again of monkeys, researchers believe that through tickling they can express sympathy.

Why You Can't Tickle Yourself

No matter how hard you try, you can't tickle yourself. Aristotle himself proved this! The cerebellum, as it were, warns the rest of the brain that now there will be “self-tickle”, and there is no point in reacting, because all manipulations are known in advance. Although if you are a schizophrenic, then you may be able to tickle yourself.

Interesting fact! In countries ancient east tickling was considered a sinful activity, so it was forbidden.

How not to be ticklish

"Resistance" to tickling can be developed by reducing the sensitivity of nerve endings. But such an effect is achievable in the process of long training - experts say so. To do this, when you are tickled, try to relax your muscles as much as possible. It is difficult, of course, but they say that over time, the reaction to tickling will decrease. By the way, with age, the nerve endings become less sensitive, and, consequently, tickling is easier to endure.

You can go for a trick. Place your hand on top of the tickler's hand- so the brain can begin to perceive the touch of another person as your own. This is used during the ultrasound procedure, which can also cause tickling.

Is tickling dangerous?

"Tickle to death" is a familiar expression, isn't it? Indeed, in some cases, tickling can lead to sad consequences, especially if it is unpleasant for a person, because the nerve centers are excited and the body is in a short-term stressful state. All this can lead to a heart attack. In addition, prolonged tickling can cause a spasm of the respiratory tract, which can cause a person to suffocate.

Conclusion

Tickling is not as simple as it seems, therefore, the fear of tickling today does not have a clear explanation. We know that this feeling exists at the reflex level, and it should be understood as a natural reaction of the body to external unwanted stimuli.

Why do some twitch at the slightest touch, while others even tickle, it's useless - zero reactions!

Some do not react to being tickled, probably covered with armor from the inside, life tickled so much that they don’t even notice some kind of playful touch. They simply belong to the category of people who are calm, not hasty, balanced. And in impulsive, quick-tempered, the reaction to tickling is instantaneous, because the nerve endings are located close to the surface of the skin.

But even thick-skinned people will tickle with laughter if they are in a relaxed state.

Ludwigo

These are people with a low threshold of sensitivity or who have trained their will. These may be people who rarely laugh and are not at all amused by the fact that someone tickles them. Children are very sensitive to tickling, because they are ready to laugh at any little thing. And adults have accumulated a baggage of problems, worries and experiences, so it is difficult for them to switch to the game form of tickling, to laugh heartily.

Asyushka

Oddly enough, ticklish laughter is caused in people not only with delicate and sensitive skin, but also with any type of skin in general. Tickling laughter is rather caused by the psycho-emotional component of a person.

I don't like tickling, it annoys me more than it makes me laugh.

Why is a person ticklish? And why are some people more ticklish than others?

Tickling - generating a special feeling of irritation in the body by touching the skin or fingering it
One of the hypotheses says that tickling is a reflex reaction of human skin to small animals and insects inherited from distant ancestors.
According to another version, tickling is a built-in "good mood generator". Its task is to stimulate the internal resources of the body (nerve cells, secretions), which begin to work more actively replenishing the blood various substances that increase stress and virus resistance.
There is another theory that suggests that tickling is a method of communication inherited from the monkeys, who thus express sympathy for each other.
As a rule, a person does not experience negative sensations when tickled. However, too long tickling can lead to spasm of the respiratory muscles due to prolonged laughter. As a result of this spasm, a person can suffocate and die (hence the expression "tickle to death").

User deleted

Tickles are afraid of both monkeys and rats. But why didn't this reflex disappear in the course of evolution? Scientists are still wondering about its meaning - and also about why we squeal and laugh when we are tickled.
Are you looking for any specific torture methods? Then boldly attack the object of your choice with the help of tickling! Today, as a rule, people tickle each other for fun - perhaps because the first reaction to being tickled is laughter. But this is only one side of the coin. American psychologist Christina Harris photographed people who had just been tickled and found the following: the expression on the face of the person being tickled resembles the expression on the face of the person being tormented.
In other words, the one who is tickled does not experience pleasure, but suffering. At one time, the Romans used tickling as a form of torture. In the Middle Ages, they also resorted to this method: the bare feet of the victim were fixed, and everyone who passed by could tickle them. There were even more perverse methods: for example, salt was sprinkled on the feet, which was then licked off by sheep.
Thank God we don't live in the Middle Ages, but people still know the feeling of being tickled. The question is why? Why didn't this reflex just disappear in the course of evolution? Scientists have found that even chimpanzees and rats are ticklish, but why this is necessary is still unclear. Charles Darwin once suggested that tickling strengthens social bonds. Christina Harris, who studies the nature of this phenomenon, on the contrary, is convinced that tickling is a reflex designed to protect especially vulnerable places on our body.
Just where particularly sensitive places are located on the body, we are especially tickled: on the stomach and in the waist area, where important organs are located, as well as in the armpit and on the feet. Tickling is perceived by the brain as an external irritation - and any external influence can be hostile and must be avoided. Therefore, we intuitively dodge when we are tickled.
Tickle tickle strife
Knismesis - or "light tickling" (Greek) can be caused by touching the skin with a feather or lightly stroking. Does gargalesis come into play when a person is under real attack? - including the typical squeals and laughter. And here is another scientific mystery: what is the meaning of this squealing and laughter? There are several hypotheses: psychologist James Leuba considers this a pure reflex. Charles Darwin, the author of the theory of evolution, saw this as the origin of a sense of humor. According to another theory, laughter serves as a release: initially tickling scares a person, but the brain hangs up, because tickling does not involve danger.
Why then can't we tickle ourselves? This question was still occupied by Aristotle, who came to the following conclusion: everything that comes from ourselves, regardless of whether it is tickling or something else, does not pose a danger to us, and our body simply ignores it. This conjecture is confirmed by Sarah Blackmore, a researcher from London. Using magnetic resonance imaging, she analyzed the brain activity of people who were tickled by someone else and who tickled themselves. And she came to the conclusion that the cerebellum of those who tickled themselves was less active than those who were tickled. That is nervous system is such a complex network that the brain recognizes exactly what sensation to expect when we ourselves touch our skin or make some kind of movement. Of course, in this case, there is simply no effect of surprise.
The Foot Tickle Experiment
Darwin was convinced that it tickles only when we do not know about it in advance - which cannot be said about those who tickle themselves. He wrote: "From the fact that a child cannot tickle himself, we can conclude that he does not know the exact place where he can be tickled."

Alena Kutlina Andreeva

I was told today scary story about how one husband tickled three wives to death in turn in order to get all the property from them. Then the children of those wives peeped and at night they caught him red-handed.

Lyudochka

Today, as a rule, people tickle each other for fun - perhaps because the first reaction to being tickled is laughter. But this is only one side of the coin. American psychologist Christina Harris photographed people who had just been tickled and found that the facial expression of the person being tickled resembled that of the person being tormented.

Just where particularly sensitive places are located on the body, a person is especially ticklish: on the stomach and in the waist area, where important organs are located, as well as in the armpit and on the feet. Tickling is perceived by the brain as an external irritation - and any external influence can be hostile and should be avoided. Therefore, we intuitively dodge when we are tickled.
Those who claim that they are not afraid of being tickled at all, and offer to try to tickle them, are simply very hardy. Whether they were really able to extinguish the reaction of their body can be checked by tickling them again.

Why are some people ticklish and others not?

** Siren - singing in the night **

Scientists have been wondering for many years about the meaning of the fear of tickling, which can be experienced not only by humans, but also by monkeys and rats. According to the German edition of Stern, it is still unclear why this reflex has not disappeared in the course of evolution.

There is an opinion that the one who is tickled does not experience pleasure at all, but suffering. At one time, the Romans used tickling as a form of torture. In the Middle Ages, they also resorted to this method: the bare feet of the victim were fixed, and everyone who passed by could tickle them. There were even more perverse methods: for example, salt was sprinkled on the feet, which was then licked off by sheep ( full text on the InoPressa.ru website).

Charles Darwin once suggested that tickling strengthens social bonds. Christina Harris, who studies the nature of this phenomenon, on the contrary, is convinced that tickling is a reflex designed to protect particularly vulnerable areas on the body.

Just where particularly sensitive places are located on the body, a person is especially ticklish: on the stomach and in the waist area, where important organs are located, as well as in the armpit and on the feet. Tickling is perceived by the brain as an external irritation - and any external influence can be hostile and must be avoided. Therefore, we intuitively dodge when we are tickled.

Knismesis - or "light tickling" (Greek) can be caused by touching the skin with a feather or lightly stroking. Gargalesis is when a person is under real attack - including the typical squeals and laughter. And here is another scientific mystery: what is the meaning of this squealing and laughter? There are several hypotheses: psychologist James Leuba considers this a pure reflex. Charles Darwin, the author of the theory of evolution, saw this as the origin of a sense of humor. According to another theory, laughter serves as a release: initially tickling scares a person, but the brain hangs up, because tickling does not involve danger.
read MORE DETAILS HERE ===>>http://www.zavtra.com.ua/news/health/59869/

If a person is ticklish, does this mean that he is amorous?

Often the child is also ticklish...

So is he amorous or jealous?

I think this is just speculation!

Each of us is individual and the fear of being tickled in a certain place and at a certain age does not mean anything.

Alekatea

Not at all, it does not say anything about the emotional component of a person's character. This only says that he has a lot of sensitive areas on his body, and indirectly may indicate that a person has a lot of erogenous zones, because of which he can get more pleasure from sex. But this is not a fact either.

As early as the 19th century, Charles Darwin noticed that tickling was a mechanism for social bonding. It serves as one of the first forms of communication between mother and child. It also helps to build relationships between friends and is considered by psychologists to be part of the fifth, most a high degree a social game involving intimacy and cognitive interaction.

2. We can't tickle ourselves.

If another person's touch can lead to tickling, why can't we tickle ourselves? Scientists suggest that our cerebellum can distinguish between unexpected touch and expected sensations, and this suppresses the tickling response. When we try to tickle ourselves, the brain anticipates this and prepares for the tickle. Perhaps a different reaction to the expected and unexpected appeared in a person in order to better defend himself from enemies.

3. The most "ticklish" places are the most vulnerable places during an attack

The soles of the feet and armpits are considered to be two of the most ticklish places on our body. In addition, most ticklish areas such as the neck, chest, genital area are also the most vulnerable in battles.
The axilla contains the axillary vein and artery and provides unobstructed access to the heart, which is not protected by the chest. The neck also contains two important arteries in the human body that supply the brain with blood. The trachea, which carries air to the lungs, is also located in the neck.

4. Tickling is our body's alert system.

Scientists have found that the feelings we get when we are tickled cause us to panic and are a natural defense mechanism against crawling insects such as spiders and beetles.

5. Tickling can turn into torture

There have been cases in history when tickling was used as corporal punishment. So there is evidence that the Nazis used tickling as a form of torture. Also, the ancient Romans used a special kind of torture. They tied offenders, dipped their feet in salt water and forced the goats to lick it. Over time, the tickling became very painful.

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

6. The older we are, the less ticklish we are.

Is tickling child's play? There is some truth in this, as people under 40 are 10 times more likely to be tickled than those over 40. And this is not because adults do not like being tickled, but there is a gradual decrease in tactile sensitivity with age.

7. Tickling can be stopped

How to do it? Place your hand on the hand of the person tickling you. Doctors often resort to this trick. When a doctor wants to examine a patient's abdomen, he may ask him to put his hand on his. In this way, you seem to be doing the same actions as the doctor, which makes our brain think that you are tickling yourself. The only problem is to grab the tickler's hand.

8. Tickling Helps You Lose Weight

If tickling makes you laugh hard, it burns calories. Scientists have found that 10-15 minutes of laughter burns an additional 10-40 calories per day, which could mean weight loss of several kilograms in a year. Of course, this is not the same as going to the gym, but if you decide to lose weight, every calorie counts.

9. Tickling can be sexually pleasurable.

For some people, tickling almost any part of the body gives them pleasure, and there are those who get turned on by watching others tickle. In a broad sense, tickling can serve as a form of preliminary play. However, with knismolagnia, tickling arousal, it becomes a form of sexual fetishism.

10. Why do we laugh when we are tickled?

This is the main unsolved question regarding tickling. Laughter is usually associated with humor and pleasure. But when tickled, it occurs uncontrollably, being unrelated to a joke or a funny incident. Sometimes the tickling process can even be unpleasant and painful. So why are we laughing?

How plausible is the expression "tickle to death" that exists in many languages of the world? Is it really possible to die from tickling? It sounds strange and unbelievable. Just remember how many times you yourself tickled a small child, and how loudly and provocatively he burst into laughter. What's so terrible about it - to indulge and fool around with the baby, gently tugging at his sides? Even a children's game about a goat, where "she walks with horns, gores - gores", is also based on the principle of tickling. What is this expression? Stupidity? Ridiculous? Or is tickling not so harmless after all?

An ambiguous phenomenon. Think back to your childhood now. What were your feelings when an older brother or just a familiar boy tickled you for a long time, annoyingly and did not want to stop? Why did you laugh? Did you really have fun or did you experience pain, resentment and sometimes even fear? Some kind of unnatural laughter, unpleasant shudders of the body, attempts to dodge these annoying hands almost always ended in the same way: hysteria, lack of air and bitter crying. So what is tickling: a harmless game or an aggressive effect on our body?

Is it possible to die from tickling? The opinion of scientists.

In order to understand this problem, we reviewed a number of scientific research and analyzed the results of various experiments on this topic. It turned out that tickling is a passive defensive reaction of the human body, inherited from evolved animals of the lower class, which once served as a way to detect alien dangerous insects on the skin. Tickling is still perceived by our brain as a threat signal, even though we do not experience much pain.

But why then do we laugh at these moments? It turns out that laughter, according to scientists at the University of California, is a way of expressing the desire to get rid of this state and has nothing to do with fun and joy. Laughter in this case- This is a reaction to an increase in a person's nervous strain. David Gartley, the founder of association psychology, argues that laughter during tickling is nothing more than "incipient crying" but only interrupted. That is why, if you do not finish tickling the child in time, he will certainly burst into tears.

Tickling as a form of torture. Imagine, once tickling was not a way of entertainment, but an instrument of terrible torture. This is how noble gentlemen were tortured in ancient China, who could not be physically punished and insulted. And in Ancient Rome for this, a live goat was used, which licked the delinquent legs, previously soaked in a highly saline solution. There is evidence that a similar method of torture was also used in Nazi camps, using goose feathers for this.

Medical opinion.

Doctors say that when the human body is tickled, it becomes hyperexcitable. At the same time, any light touch causes convulsions and muscle spasms, and the worst thing is that the respiratory muscles are also exposed to this effect. With prolonged tickling, a person experiences, and his body is very tense, trying to get rid of external influences. A person begins to suffocate and is quite capable of dying from this, especially if he has problems with the respiratory system or heart. So is it possible to die from tickling? It turns out, yes. However, only in theory real cases death from tickling, thank God, was not recorded!

To fully understand the nature of tickling, we want to remind you of one more feeling associated with it. Remember how you feel if a loved one kisses you gently on the neck or blows on your ear? It's nice, isn't it? And many children love to be squeezed and tugged a little. This pleasure comes to us due to the production of a hormone in our body that is responsible for the instinct of self-preservation - adrenaline. This always happens in borderline situations with various stressful conditions: with fear, anxiety and shock.

The consequences for the body from tickling are the same as after an increase in the production of adrenaline: a person is excited, the vessels of his skin, mucous membranes and abdominal organs narrow, and the vessels of the brain expand and blood pressure rises. All this can be both for the benefit of the human body, for example, for the development of the lungs and increasing their volume, and for harm. Therefore, to the question of whether it is possible to die from tickling, it would be more correct to answer - no. But from pulmonary spasm or from cardiac arrest, which can be caused by prolonged and non-stop tickling - yes, especially when it comes to people with pathologies of the heart and lungs!

Conclusion. Tickling can be fun and a great way to bond with your baby. By stimulating blood circulation, it can be a kind of gymnastics for blood vessels. When tickled, breathing and heartbeat quicken, which provokes metabolism and improves human immunity. However, this is possible only when the person is completely healthy and when the tickling ends on time. But the line between feeling pleasure and stress is very thin, which can be crossed easily and quickly. And you can experience similar sensations that we get when tickling in other ways, without checking in practice whether it is possible to die from tickling. A sincere conversation with a child, interesting games, dancing, sports, a walk together - things that are much safer and much more useful than tickling!