Introduction

Have you ever tried to tickle yourself, but for some reason, you don’t laugh? But, if you read this blog, then you will figure out why.

Why Can’t We Tickle Ourselves?

Everyone has something called the cerebellum, which is involved in monitoring movements. The cerebellum can predict sensations when your own movement cause them but not when someone else does. When you try to tickle yourself, the cerebellum predicts the sensation and this prediction cancels out all the other brain areas to the tickle. Another research found that when someone tickles you, it triggers a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which prepares you for pain. Some scientists think that when someone tickles you, then they are putting you in a vulnerable position. This might explain why people hate tickling, and they respond by thrashing. So it makes sense you can’t tickle yourself because you can’t surprise your own brain. When you try to tickle yourself on any area on your body, your brain is already one step ahead. It knows where your fingers will touch you and that it won’t hurt you. But when someone else tickles you, your brain can not predict the unpredictable. Your brain doesn’t know where another person will strike you with a tickle. Since it’s unpredictable, then it makes you more sensitive to the touch, and you react by laughing. You actually can tickle yourself if you have something called schizophrenia.

Conclusion

Whew, that was a lot of writing. I hope you learned a lot about why you can’t/can tickle yourself and that you’ve learned that you can only tickle yourself if you have schizophrenia, or you are just really ticklish. I hope you enjoyed reading about my blog !