There's no sensation quite as strange as the feeling of being tickled. But why?
What is tickling? And why does it tend to make us laugh?
Let's find out, on today's episode of Colossal Questions! Whenever something touches you, all the nerve endings underneath the top layer of your skin react by sending electrical signals up to your brain.
Those signals are sent to two different areas of the brain: the part that controls touch, and the part that generates pleasant feelings. Humans aren't actually the only animals who can be tickled.
Research shows that gorillas, rats, and even dogs are all known to sometimes laugh when tickled. There are two basic types of tickling.
The first is known as gargalesis, and it's the intense kind of tickling that happens when something tickles a sensitive spot, like an armpit or foot and usually causes laughter. The other kind of tickling is called knismesis, and it happens when something moves ever so slightly across the skin, like a feather.
This type is less likely to make you laugh and feels more like an itch. Despite being such a basic reaction, experts still aren't sure exactly why tickling makes us laugh, but they do have a few ideas.
Some scientists think it could simply be an age-old form of social bonding. You see, as far back as we know, babies and parents have bonded through tickling and laughing together.
But others believe we might laugh when tickled for a more primal reason: survival. That's right.
Some experts expect it might be an evolutionary trait, designed to help protect some of our most vulnerable spots like the neck or stomach from a predator. And I know what you might be thinking.
