Not only people are afraid of tickling, but also rats and monkeys. Scientists still can not understand why the effect on the skin of the skin in some places causes a person's excitement, squealing and laughter, and also why these reflex sensations did not disappear in the course of evolution. Today, as a rule, people tickle each other as a joke and just to make a person laugh. But it turns out that everything is not so happy.
Tickling feet - refined torture
Psychologist from the United States Christina Harris once conducted a study. She photographed people at the moment of tickling and found on their faces an expression of not happiness, but suffering. Proceeding from this, it can be concluded that a person who is tickled, even though he laughs, but experiences not pleasure, but torment. Confirm this and some historical facts. Thus, in Romans in ancient times, the tickling of the feet was a method of torture. The limbs of the victim were fixed in a fixed position, and each person passing by could scratch the bare feet. The tickling of the legs was also performed in more sophisticated ways, for example, the feet were sprinkled with salt, which the sheep subsequently licked.
Why does it cause laughter?
Charles Darwin once suggested that the tickling of the legs or other areas of the body helps to strengthen social ties. Modern psychologists are inclined to the idea that the sensations generated by it are a kind of reflex designed to protect the vulnerable zones of the body. The most sensitive places for tickling are the feet, armpits, waist area. Such an action is perceived by the body as an external irritation, which must be avoided. That's why we reflexively try to dodge when we are touched for the most sensitive places.
Many guys believe that tickling the feet of girls with a light feather causes a very pleasant sensation, and therefore often it is practiced. Perhaps, in truth, this way you can give pleasure. But when a person is subjected to a strong tickling, which gives rise to squeals and laughter, he is unlikely to experience pleasant emotions. Psychologists believe that the laughter that occurs when tickling is a pure reflex. Another point of view defines it as a kind of detente: first a person feels fear, and realizing that there is no danger, begins to laugh. Darwin also associated this reaction with a sense of humor.
But why does not the tickling of oneself produce laughter? Aristotle thought about this question. He came to the conclusion that any action coming from the person himself does not pose a danger to him, therefore his body simply ignores it. Aristotle's conjecture is confirmed also by modern researchers. One experiment, performed with the help of a magnetic resonance imager, showed that the brain of people who were tickled by someone else was much more active than those who tickled themselves. Much depends also on who specifically affects you. For example, the tickling of children's feet by parents causes a laughter in children. But the same manipulation of unfamiliar or unpleasant children, the body begins to resist and reject the impact.