Who's Ticklish?
I heard an interesting report from BBC Radio on the study of tickling and what it's teaching scientists about the brain. Here's the blurb from the Outlook Website:
Can you tickle yourself? What is the purpose of tickling? Can we ever tickle ourselves to make ourselves laugh? Why does it sometimes hurt? The purpose of tickling has always been a bit of a scientific mystery but new research has thrown some light on this area. We discuss the phenomenon with two tickling experts and travel to South Africa to see what younger ticklers have to say about this.
You don't get the chance to hear tickling experts very often. Listen to the whole show here, but do it quickly, as it looks like it'll only be available for a few more days (the report on tickling starts at about 26:25 into the stream). One fascinating tidbit I learned is that schizophrenics can tickle themselves.
posted by Doug @ 12:04 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I had a friend in high school who could tickle herself. She would tickle one side of her tummy and then the other hand would come over to stop the tickling hand. She wasn't the type to fake it and she didn't seem schizophrenic at the time.
Did you listen to the report? The tickling experts explain why schizophrenics react differently than the rest of us. Would any of that apply to your friend?
I listened but while doing something else, and now I can't remember what exactly they said. She was kind of air-headed--would that do it?
It's a disconnect in the brain that breaks down the understanding of cause and effect. Part of a ticklish reaction is surprise, so without the expectation of cause and effect (which is a absent in schizophrenic brains), you can surprise yourself. If she was enough of an airhead, I guess she might've been oblivious to what would happen when she brushed her fingers against her stomach.
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