Tickling

clairefontaine

Why are people ticklish? Why are some not ticklish?

JuliusCaesar

Good ol' google scholar comes up with some articles which are closed-access, and open-access - but a quick google might give you the answer.

clairefontaine

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Good ol' google scholar comes up with some articles which are closed-access, and open-access - but a quick google might give you the answer.

That's not an answer. Obviously I am asking here because Google was unsatisfactory.

I know why one can't tickle oneself. I'm interested in why some people are ticklish and others aren't. Perhaps I should ask in the neurology forum, where there are scientists.

Cee-Jay-Cee

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Good ol' google scholar comes up with some articles which are closed-access, and open-access - but a quick google might give you the answer.

Good point. May as well close down Boards as everything can now be found on google.

In my opinion a person is only thickly when in the right mood. For example if some one was upset it angry they wouldn't react to being tickled the same way they would when they're in a happy mood. It's also to do with anticipation, you can't tickle yourself as there is no anticipation because you know you're going to do it and you know where your going to be tickled.

JuliusCaesar

clairefontaine wrote: »

Perhaps I should ask in the neurology forum, where there are scientists.

CJC999 wrote: »

In my opinion a person is only thickly when in the right mood.

Oh well, if it's opinions you want, why ask a scientist? I would have thought you'd want facts and evidence. Anyone can have an opinion.

Most of us here on the forum are clinical specialists, although there are some recent graduates who are au fait with other areas of psychology. A lot of people who come in here with odd queries aren't aware of Google Scholar.

If you can find the neurology forum on boards, good luck!






Also, it's not generally a good idea to insult a mod; do read the charter before posting.

clairefontaine

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Oh well, if it's opinions you want, why ask a scientist? I would have thought you'd want facts and evidence. Anyone can have an opinion.

Most of us here on the forum are clinical specialists, although there are some recent graduates who are au fait with other areas of psychology. A lot of people who come in here with odd queries aren't aware of Google Scholar.

If you can find the neurology forum on boards, good luck!






Also, it's not generally a good idea to insult a mod; do read the charter before posting.

No I'm not looking for an opinion.

Your forum is listed under science. I'm looking for science.

I can't see who insulted you.

dar100

clairefontaine wrote: »

Why are people ticklish? Why are some not ticklish?

Maybe, others have tick skin, a bit like your good self:pac:

Faith

clairefontaine wrote: »

No I'm not looking for an opinion.

Your forum is listed under science. I'm looking for science.

I can't see who insulted you.

You couldn't find the answer on the entire internet, and you're getting stroppy because you weren't immediately furnished with the answer here. LOL. Good luck with the neurology forum too.

The most popular theory about tickling is that we're ticklish where we're vulnerable. Your neck, feet, armpits etc all have a very important blood supply, and if you were attacked there, you could die very easily. Children tickle each other and it acts as a way to learn about self-defence and protecting those areas. There's also a suggestion that tickling lead to the development of laughter.

As to why some people aren't ticklish, I don't know. Maybe they're better at distinguishing threats; maybe they are worse. Maybe they are less sensitive or have less touch receptors. If the above theory is correct, then those who aren't ticklish could be considered evolutionarily weaker.

Valmont

Faith wrote: »

As to why some people aren't ticklish, I don't know. Maybe they're better at distinguishing threats; maybe they are worse. Maybe they are less sensitive or have less touch receptors.

I always assumed they were liars!

Valmont

Faith wrote: »

There's also a suggestion that tickling lead to the development of laughter.

Do you have any information on this idea? It seems slightly ludicrous.

clairefontaine

Valmont wrote: »

I always assumed they were liars!

I used to be ticklish. At some point in childhood I just stopped being ticklish. Not lying.

JuliusCaesar

Valmont wrote: »

I always assumed they were liars!

I deliberately learnt to suppress ticklishness to fend off attacks by siblings.

Esel

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

I deliberately learnt to suppress ticklishness to fend off attacks by siblings.

Did it work?

JuliusCaesar

Esel wrote: »

Did it work?

Yes. They stopped trying to tickle me when it elicited no reaction - well, not the reaction they wanted.

Faith

Valmont wrote: »

Do you have any information on this idea? It seems slightly ludicrous.

No, nothing peer reviewed to hand, I just remember reading it a while back.

There's a paper here that touches on tickling, and a long paper here that I'm not going to wade through! I can't say that either of those do or don't support the protection theory though.

buzzb123

Hi op!

This doesn't answer your question directly however you may find it interesting all the same :-)

I'm certain that I have read that a person generally feels 'tickled' when they know the person tickling them...for example if a stranger was to do it it may actually be slight pain felt as opposed to tickles... Not to mention slightly odd :-)


Maybe it's also the anticipation that plays a part....?

this would suggest to me that an emotional factor also comes into play when being tickled? :-)

DavyD_83

JuliusCaesar wrote: »

Yes. They stopped trying to tickle me when it elicited no reaction - well, not the reaction they wanted.

I've always considered myself to essentially have no tickles; it's something that friends and my now wide have always just found weird. To the point that I now feel that ppl having and being tickled is strange and some mystery to me. I just don't get it.
Anyway, recently my wife said something about it to my mother. My mum's response "well he just decided not to". It seems in an act of stubborn-ness at some point I just stated that I didn't have tickles and just didn't from them on. I suspect it was so there was one less way my brother could torment me. So yep, seems like it's possible to somewhat deliberately suppress/switch off your tickles if you're determined/stubborn enough.
My real question, does anybody know how to un-suppress the tickles? I now have a 1 year old daughter who loves being tickled, and have recently realised that it's gonna genuinely upset Me when she eventually tries to tickle of and I have no reaction.
I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's actually bothering me. I haven't been able to find anything relevant on the Google, happy to be proven wrong.

Tldr; how do I get my tickles back after ~30yrs of believing i never had any?

JuliusCaesar

Just as you conditioned yourself not to be ticklish, you can un-condition yourself by relaxing and enjoying the sensations.

Be aware that children aren't good at tickling! They tend to poke rather than tickle. So a lot of adults keeling over laughing at being tickled are pretending

You might like to try with someone you trust. And never over-tickle someone! When it gets hard to breathe it's unpleasant.

fannymagee

You can only tickle someone if they resist. If you want your tickles to return, pretend you really don't want to be tickled! Might take a bit of acting, but should be enough to convince your daughter