The Neuroscience of Tickling: Why It Hurts So Good

Video: https://www.tiktok.com/@distilledscience/video/7521847055367621919

Transcript

Why does tickling hurt so good? Why do some of you hate it, even if it can make you laugh? There's some pretty cool neuroscience behind it, and parts that we still don't fully understand. This is tingles in touch, episode 5. Tickling tiptoes the tenuous territory between titillation, torment, and ergo blak blak. Yes, that's the technical term. It involves both a primal reflexive response and a higher level brain system that takes into account who is doing the tickling, whether or not you feel safe with them, and many other factors. I used to be extremely ticklish. I'd get tickled all the time as a kid, but I actually hated the loss of control it made me feel. So I ended up training myself to just not respond at all. A tickle, tickle, tickle, tickle, I tickle, tickle, now I barely even feel any tickle sensation. Of one type, there are actually two types of tickle. The first is called nismesis, produced by light, itch-like tingles. We evolved this as a defense mechanism against bugs and parasites. When a mosquito lands and bends a single hair follicle, you reflexively jerk and brush it off. Studies have shown that this can happen anywhere on the body, and you can even do it to yourself. Most people don't find mismises to be pleasurable, with some exceptions. But as we covered earlier, when this type of light touch is expected and from a trusted source, and is slow and continuous, it can produce pleasurable chills. Unless you have a non-standard nervous system, like some people on the autism spectrum with ADHD or chronic pain, where the CT fiber nerve touch system can be oversensitized for various reasons. But when it's unexpected, either at all or even just a location it's going to happen, The tickle sensation makes us jerk away. Surprise the skin, and the skin surprises you back. The second type of touch is called gargolises, which is... Really? Which is a deeper belly laugh tickle triggered by heavier rhythmic touch. Gargolesis is more complicated. It only occurs at touch from certain locations, like feet, armpits, neck, and stomach. It's highly dependent on mood and context, and it's the only type of human touch that can produce laughter. And we evolved this a long time ago because it also occurs in monkeys, and rats. Apparently the rat likes being tickled, not just because of the frequency of its calls, but because when the tickling stops, the rat looks to see where the hand has gone. Gargolises is not well understood by science, but we have some theories, for why it happens, why some like it, some hate it, and ways of making yourself less ticklish, which we'll cover in the next videos.

Additional notes

Replying to @dreamer.0f.dreams Fun Fact about Tickling: It’s discussed in the writings of Socrates, Aristotle, Erasmus, Francic Bacon, Galileo, Descartes, and Darwin! Video on these coming soon :) ❓🙋‍♂️ POLL: Do you: A. Like getting tickled B. Hate getting tickled C. Love-hate relationship Aaand are you neurotypical? 👉Beware: A tickle keeps tickling until the tickled tires of being ticklish. 🚨 Sign up for my Substack to get the full article on touch, and one on tickling, coming soon! 📚 SOURCES📚 PMID: 38633879 DOI: 10.1016/j.cobeha.2021.11.007 Rat Video "See What Happens When You Tickle a Rat | National Geographic” PMID: 40408489 #tickling #tinglesandtouch #stem #neuroscience #autism #adhd #stem #science Title: Why does tickling… tickle?

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