Why We Can't Tickle Ourselves

(Music Playing)

Casey: Hey it is Kasey Dee and you are watching Why Tell Me Why. This week I have a question for you, can you tickle your self? Do you know why? Do you want to know why? Good, I have the answer for you.

Male: If you just hold the feather for example and tickle your self directly. It is not very ticklish and if someone else does it to you. It is very ticklish, but you can do things in between when someone else tickles you. You can not predict perfectly when that sensory information is going to arrive. But when you tickle your self, you can predict with great accuracy. The precise timing and magnitude of those sensations and we believe that there are predictive mechanisms. That cancel or attenuate the sensory information that is being produced by your self. It is a rather precise mechanism. All of this little things increase the ticklishness that you experience.

So as you brake down the relationship between what you are doing and the consequences of your actions. Then it becomes more difficult to predict and therefore more difficult to cancel the sensory information that is coming in.

Casey: Does that answer your question? Any other questions you have. Just email me at WhytellmeWhy@Discovery.com and I will answer those questions for you on air.


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