The question “why can’t we tickle ourselves” intrigues not only children but also adults. Some neurobiologists have also begun to wonder about this issue. The conducted experiments quickly solved the mystery. What’s the secret to ticklish, and can we trick our own brains?
- The feeling of tickling is a mixture of discomfort and pleasure for many
- By tickling each other, we stimulate the area of the brain that is responsible for emotional and pain responses
- The regions of the brain responsible for processing the tickling sensation are less active in self-tickling than when someone else does
- Moreover, when we try to tickle ourselves, the cerebellum predicts these sensations and helps to cancel the response of other areas of the brain to tickling.
- More information can be found on the Onet homepage.
By tickling each other, we stimulate the area of the brain that is responsible for emotional responses such as laughing, fighting or fleeing, and responses to pain. This is why when we are tickled, we may laugh not because of having fun, but because this is our autonomous emotional response. At the same time, the movement of our body resembles activities that are performed by people who experience severe pain. Not everyone enjoys tickling. However, this does not change the fact that some of us wonder why we cannot do it ourselves.
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Why can’t we tickle ourselves?
Sarah-Jayne Blakemore, professor of psychology and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and University College London, explains why humans can’t tickle themselves.
The answer should be sought in the back of the brain, in an area known as the cerebellum. It is he who is responsible for monitoring our movements. A study by Dr. Blakemore and scientists from University College London shows that the cerebellum can predict sensations when triggered by our own movement. However, it cannot do this when someone else is doing it.
When you try to tickle yourself, the cerebellum predicts sensation, and this prediction is used to cancel other areas of the brain’s response to tickling
— podaje «Scientific American»
The areas of the brain involved in processing the tickling sensation are the somatosensory cortex, which processes touch, and the front part of the cingulate cortex, which processes pleasant information. According to Dr Blakemore’s team’s observations, both of these regions are less active when they are tickled on their own than when someone else is tickling them.
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Further part under the video.
Tickling Research
The first experiment that Dr. Blakemore decided to undertake was to scan the brains of the subjects while someone else was tickling their hands and trying to do it themselves. From the obtained results of brain activity, the scientists concluded that every time we move our limbs, the cerebellum makes precise predictions of the body’s movements. Thanks to this, it is able to send a signal that suppresses activity in the somatosensory cortex. This is why when we tickle ourselves, we don’t get the same sensations as when someone else tickles ourselves.
These results prompted the researcher to conduct another experiment. This time, Dr. Blakemore decided to look for a way to cheat the process and allow people to tickle themselves. To this end, she designed a special machine to tickle the subjects at different intervals. The participants controlled the stick themselves, but the foam-covered end, which gently stroked their hands, did not always work immediately. The machine assumed a delay of up to 200 milliseconds. It turned out that the longer the delay, the more ticklish the foam was. The reason for this is most likely the fact that the cerebellum predictions did not always match what the person actually felt.
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The effect of illusion on tickling
Since Dr. Blakemore’s groundbreaking research, many other scientists have also tried to find ways to trick the brain. Some have focused on controlling the movements of someone’s foot with magnetic stimulation of the brain so that the hand will tickle the foot against its will. Others, on the other hand, tried to take advantage of the illusion.
George Van Doorn, a psychologist at Monash University in Australia, conducted the following experiment. Equipped with video goggles, the participant makes eye contact with the experimenter sitting in front of him. They then synchronize their movements. At some point, the subject begins to feel that the experimenter’s body is his own. During this illusion, the participant moves a lever that tickles both bodies at the same time. Van Doorn assumed that the confused participants would feel all the force of the tickling. However, the study did not bring the expected results.
Whether you swap bodies with someone else – you can’t tickle yourself with your own movements
– he said in an interview with BBC Future.
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