Tickleish Feet

[chirpychippy]

My eldest asked me the other day, Why is it when I tickle her feet she laughs uncontrollably, yet when she tries to tickle her own feet nothing happens??????????????????????

 

[Rob]

Something to do with your body/brain knowing exactly how your doing it and what to expect. When another person does it its random.

 

[Space cat]

Rob884 is correct. You can't tickle yourself - well not much anyway - because your brain already knows where your fingers are going. I've heard of an experiment in which a robot hand is linked to your own and exactly copies your movements. The clever bit is that you can put a variable delay between the two. With no delay you still can't tickle yourself but when the delay exceeds some critical point you can.

An even more interesting question is why we have a tickle response at all. Does it work in other species? Any zoologists out there?

 

[tim west]

without the tickle there'd be no point in the slap

 

[Space cat]

without the tickle there'd be no point in the slap

Nice one Tim.

In an attempt to answer my own question as to why we have a tickle response, I did consider that not only are we the only species that uses sex for pair bonding but also, perhaps, the only species that uses our entire skin surface for sex!

It's a good theory but it does have a flaw. Many other primates use grooming as a form of group bonding. Just like us humans, they spend long periods touching each other all over. Why wouldn't they also develop a tickle response?

 

[Fergy]

Does it work in other species? Any zoologists out there?

dogs can be tickled by stimulating the short hairs in the center of the pads on their rear paws. Likewise with the short hairs in the center of their ears.
Or it might simply be irritating to them.

Cheers.

 

[Deluks]

Does it work in other species? Any zoologists out there?

dogs can be tickled by stimulating the short hairs in the center of the pads on their rear paws.Cheers.

Best when they are asleep, one of the major joys of dog ownership




Also, let's not forget trout.

 

[Space cat]

Thanks Fergy and Deluks; you learn something new every day.

I've never had a dog so I tried it on one of our cats. The claw marks are healing up nicely ---

 

[Fergy]

The claw marks are healing up nicely ---

Well, as Deluks would no doubt say ' one of the major joys of cat ownership'

Cheers

Fergy

 

[joe-90]

Tickling doesn't make you 'laff'. It's an irritant that your body tries to remove.

 

[Fergy]

That sounds more like an itch