Why can't you tickle yourself? What will happen to a person if you tickle him for a long time? Tickle and brain scan experiment

Hi all! Here's what I thought about today. There are such set expressions"die of laughter" and "tickle to death". So, is it possible to die from tickling? Is it realistic to tickle a person to death so that he dies of laughter? Not figuratively, but literally! Were there precedents in history? Maybe who knows? Awww, call back! By the way, are you ticklish? Why are some people not ticklish? And then I'm not afraid at all, death from tickling does not threaten me.

Why are some people not ticklish?

I think it's all about the level of sensitivity. Just like with pain. Everyone has their own threshold of pain, especially, it is different for men and women. The latter are more sensitive, so it is easy to make them laugh with a tickle, and not only with it. Besides, men are simply better able to restrain themselves.

It is not appropriate for a stern man to show pain or fear, especially if it is a fear of such an inherently harmless tickling.

As for me, I, of course, feel touches on my body during the tickling, but nothing more. I always notice that I'm about to be tickled, even before the process itself begins. Perhaps the brain, realizing this, in a certain way adjusts itself and groups the body so as not to experience any fear of this seemingly innocent prank.

For this very reason, we are not ticklish when we try to tickle ourselves. British scientists confirm the fact that the human brain differentiates between expected and unexpected touches, thereby suppressing the response to self-tickling. By the way, some still manage to tickle themselves, but they are diagnosed with schizophrenia.

How to tickle a person who is not afraid of being tickled?

To the question of how to tickle a person who is not ticklish, I have several answers. Option one - silently: you tickle him as much as you want, only this will make him neither hot nor cold.

Option two: try to tickle him suddenly, on the sly, so to speak. You can also ask a person to do this, from whom the victim definitely does not expect tickling.

Option three: tickle such a person in the most “ticklish” places. There is an opinion that such places are those that were most vulnerable in the battle: these are the feet (still that “Achilles heel”) and armpits (the vein and artery in this place lead directly to the heart). They are followed by the neck, chest.

What will happen to a person if you tickle him for a long time?

So without thinking twice, I went straight to the point. I decided to tickle my girlfriend to death, otherwise she got up on the wrong foot again today. And he tickled her for a long time, not stopping and not paying attention to her “Enough!”. So she immediately laughed, and then she took it and burst into tears, I was just scared. I had to interrupt the experiment and turn to theory. It turned out that tickling is unconscious defensive reaction of our body, which was inherited by us in the process of Darwinian evolution from our smaller brothers and served them as a clear way to detect on their skin the presence of "strangers" (unsafe insects).

Therefore, our brain still perceives tickling as a signal of a potential threat. So why are we neighing like horses when they tickle us?

All the same scientists found out that tickling laughter has nothing to do with fun, it's just the body's reaction to excessive nervous strain. And the father of the so-called associative psychology, David Hartley, generally calls tickling laughter interrupted by “nascent crying.” It turns out that the phrases “to be afraid of being tickled” and “to tickle your nerves” are quite justified. Now, both in practice and in theory, I know what will happen to a person if he is tickled for a long time - he will definitely burst into tears and fall into hysterics. But what would happen if I continued the tickling torture?

ticklish torture

In the history of mankind, there were still precedents for the use of tickling as bodily torture. Also in Ancient Rome the feet were dipped in a saline solution, and then they were allowed to lick it to the goats. Yes perishing, very perverted torture. Rumor has it that the Nazis also did not neglect tickling with goose feathers as corporal punishment. About whether there were among those who experienced what tickling torture is, deaths, history is silent.

Consequences of tickling

When I turned to my doctor friend with the question of whether it is possible to die from tickling? He replied that from the tickling itself - no, but from its consequences, which are sometimes difficult to foresee - hypothetically, yes, although in fact such cases have not been recorded.

The consequences of tickling can be very different: both positive (remember how children love to be tickled or the sensation of being touched by a loved one), and negative. Today there is even such a direction as tickling therapy. We get pleasure from tickling because in the body in stressful situations(and tickling is just that) there is a surge of adrenaline - a hormone responsible for the instinct of self-preservation. As a result of such overexcitation, vasoconstriction occurs and, accordingly, an increase in pressure.

The human body, especially prone to prolonged tickling, greatly overstrains in an attempt to get rid of external stimulus, and each subsequent, even a very light touch, is accompanied by a fit of uncontrollable laughter and leads to spasms and muscle cramps, often accompanied by painful sensations. The muscles of the respiratory system are also exposed to this effect, and this is already extremely dangerous, especially for people who have problems with the heart or respiratory organs.

What can you die instantly from?

Prolonged tickling can cause a spasm in the lungs, from which you can suffocate, or a cardiac arrest, from which you can die instantly. That's "tickle to death" for you. Now I'm ticklish too, even when it's not ticklish, and it's not even funny.

How to tickle a person?

As scientists already familiar to us say, there are two types of tickling: knismesis (light touches) and gargalesis (rough impact on places on the human body that are vulnerable to tickling). Hmm, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern for me too! So, an unstoppable laugh, an involuntary convulsive contraction of the muscles and diaphragm occur only with gargalesis, so if you have a question, how to tickle a person correctly so as not to harm him , tickle him very gently and not for very long.

With tenderness, however, do not overdo it too much, because there is still such a fetish as knismolagnia - sexual arousal from tickling.

By the way, notorious scientists have found the tickling center in the brain of experimental rats, and apes even laugh when they are tickled. Now watch the tickle video and please don't die laughing!

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First time I hear about this

I thought about it after the article. and indeed, even I - already an adult aunt - do not like tickling. So why do I think my baby likes it? And before, without hesitation, she tickled - because the baby is laughing

Why shouldn't children be tickled?

Tickling is the most common type of play with a child, passed down from generation to generation. We rarely think about it, although we should, because by tickling a child, you can, despite good intentions, really hurt him.

tickling suggests physical contact and calls great amount laughter. Therefore, at first glance, it seems that children should love being tickled. Indeed, some children enjoy being tickled and even ask their parents to be tickled.

But if you listen to adults talk about their childhood, in most cases it turns out that tickling is remembered as something that brought not the most pleasant - and even painful - sensations. Many adults feel stress when they are in physical proximity from other people. Some cannot even fall asleep while in physical contact with a loved one, and are very alert when they feel non-random, even gentle touches. If we trace where such a fear came from, as a rule, it turns out that the reason for this was cases in childhood when they were tickled very much, and in such a way that the child could not escape from his "tormentor".

Fundamentals of Healthy Play

Of course, we tickle children not at all in order to give them discomfort, but when a child laughs fervently, it is often very easy to overdo it. That is why, in most cases, it is better to replace tickling with a more healthy species games.

Fundamentals of healthy play:

Each player must be respected by the others;

Each participant (in particular, a child) must have the opportunity to win;

The child's contribution to play must be valued;

The child should not feel that he is criticized and disregarded because he is small;

Every child should be able to say what he thinks and what he wants. Not all desires can be fulfilled, but at least there must be freedom of speech;

During the game, the child should not be in a powerless situation;

An adult should be nearby and ensure that the games do not become dangerous, and also that none of the children is left out;

The leaders in the game should be children, not adults.

Why tickling can be dangerous?

The main problem with tickling is that the child cannot physically say "stop".

Laughter is an automatic response to being tickled, so this response is not controlled by the person. Whether you're funny or not, you'll still start laughing. That is why the duration and intensity of the child's laughter depends on the tickler. Surely you, too, can remember not the most pleasant situations when you really wanted to tell the tickler to stop, but you just physically could not stop laughing. Or, even worse, you managed to say "stop", but the tickler thought it was a joke and did not stop.

Adults do not know how to read the minds of children, although they often believe the opposite. Therefore, often an adult believes that he himself knows when to stop tickling. After such cases, children develop unconscious fears of extraneous touches.

Need for play and physical contact

Both children and parents love to play and have fun together. Physical contact and the manifestation of pleasure from what is happening are very important. Therefore, many parents get used to tickling the child to make them laugh.

However, instead of tickling, it is better to choose more harmless ways. It is very important that the child is in charge of the game and guides you. Play catch-up, hide-and-seek, roll the child on your back or on your neck. Such games allow the most different actions that can deliver a lot of fun and laughter to both the child and you. At the same time, you will not drive the child into the framework, do not make him experience his own helplessness. In addition, this will allow the child to develop thinking, inventing ways to outwit you.

If a child wants to be tickled

If tickling is practically the only way play with parents, while having physical contact with them, then for sure the child will want to be tickled. Just the child's desire to be with you, have fun and feel your closeness is much stronger than fear be "tickled to death". Some older children admit that they did not really like being tickled, but it was the only way to play with their parents.

To stop your child from being tickled, you can pretend to start tickling. Waiting for what should happen, the child will already begin to laugh and dodge. If the child tries to tickle you back, pretend that you are very tickled and you can’t dodge. Such a reversal of roles will help the child get rid of the tension associated with the fact that only he is the "victim" of the tickler.

Adapted from an article by Patty Whipfler, handinhandparenting.org

One of the most pleasing sounds to our ears is laughter, and the strongest laughter is often ticklish. Parents tickle their children to make them giggle loudly, while the tickling of lovers is more like flirting or innocent caresses.

Where are people most sensitive to being tickled, and is it possible to tickle a person to death?

1. Tickling helps us get closer.

Tickling can not only cause laughter, but also helps us build relationships. As early as the 19th century, Charles Darwin noticed that tickling was a mechanism for social bonding. She serves one of the first forms of communication between mother and child. It also helps to build bonds between friends and is considered by psychologists as part of the fifth, the highest degree social game, which includes proximity and cognitive interaction.

2. We can't tickle ourselves.

If another person's touch can lead to tickling, why can't we tickle ourselves? Scientists suggest that our cerebellum can distinguish between unexpected touch and expected sensations, and this suppresses the tickling response. When we try to tickle ourselves the brain anticipates this and prepares for the tickle. Maybe, different reaction for the expected and the unexpected appeared in a person in order to better defend himself from enemies.

3. The most ticklish places are the most vulnerable places during an attack.

The soles of the feet and armpits are considered two of the most ticklish places on our body. In addition, most ticklish areas such as the neck, chest, genital area are also the most vulnerable in battles.

AT armpit passes the axillary vein and artery, and it provides unhindered access to the heart, which is not protected chest . The neck also contains two important arteries in the human body that supply the brain with blood. The trachea, which carries air to the lungs, is also located in the neck.

4. Tickling is our body's alert system.

Scientists have found that the feelings that we experience when we are tickled make us panic, and are natural defense mechanism in front of crawling insects such as spiders and beetles .

5. Tickling can turn into torture

There have been cases in history when tickling was used as corporal punishment. So there is evidence that the Nazis used tickling as a form of torture. Also, the ancient Romans used a special kind of torture. They tied offenders, dipped their feet in salt water and forced goats to lick it off. Over time, the tickling became very painful.

As for death by tickling, there is evidence that a person can die from laughter, which means it is theoretically possible to some extent.

6. The older we get, the less ticklish we are.

Is tickling child's play? There is some truth in this, since people under 40 are 10 times more likely to be tickled than those over 40. And this is not because adults do not like being tickled, it just happens with age. gradual decline tactile sensitivity.

7. Tickling can be stopped

How to do it? Put your hand on the hand of the person tickling you. Doctors often resort to this trick. When a doctor wants to examine a patient's abdomen, he may ask him to put his hand on his. In this way, you seem to be doing the same actions as the doctor, which makes our brain think that you are tickling yourself. The only problem is to grab the tickler's hand.

8. Tickling Helps You Lose Weight

If tickling makes you laugh hard, it burns calories. Scientists have found that 10-15 minutes of laughter burns an additional 10-40 calories per day. which could mean a weight loss of several kilograms per year. Of course it's not the same as walking in gym, but if you decide to lose weight, every calorie counts.

9. Tickling can be sexually pleasurable.

For some people, tickling almost any part of the body gives them pleasure, and there are those who get turned on by watching others tickle. AT broad sense, tickling can serve as a form of preliminary play. However, when knismolagnia- excited by tickling, it becomes a form of sexual fetishism.

10. Why do we laugh when we are tickled?

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Smile with your child! 🙂

How plausible is the expression “tickle to death” that exists in many languages of the world? Is it really possible to die from tickling? It sounds strange and unbelievable. Just remember how many times you yourself tickled a small child, and how loudly and provocatively he burst into laughter. Why is it so terrible - to indulge and fool around with the baby, gently tugging at his sides? Even a children's game about a goat, where "she walks with horns, gores - gores", is also based on the principle of tickling. What is this expression? Stupidity? Ridiculous? Or is tickling not so harmless after all?

An ambiguous phenomenon.

Think back to your childhood now. What were your feelings when an older brother or just a familiar boy tickled you for a long time, annoyingly and did not want to stop? Why did you laugh? Did you really have fun or did you experience pain, resentment and sometimes even fear? Some kind of unnatural laughter, unpleasant shudders of the body, attempts to dodge these annoying hands almost always ended in the same way: hysteria, lack of air and bitter crying. So what is tickling: a harmless game or an aggressive effect on our body?

Is it possible to die from tickling? The opinion of scientists.

In order to understand this problem, we reviewed a number of scientific research and analyzed the results of various experiments on this topic. It turned out that tickling is a passive defensive reaction of the human body, inherited from evolved animals of the lower class, which once served as a way to detect alien dangerous insects on the skin. Tickling is still perceived by our brain as a threat signal, even though we do not experience much pain. But why then do we laugh at these moments? It turns out that laughter, according to scientists at the University of California, is a way of expressing the desire to get rid of this state and has nothing to do with fun and joy. Laughter in this case is a reaction to an increase nervous tension person. David Gartley, the founder of associational psychology, argues that tickling laughter is nothing more than "incipient crying" but only interrupted. That is why, if you do not finish tickling the child in time, he will certainly burst into tears.

Tickling as a form of torture. Imagine, once tickling was not a way of entertainment, but a tool terrible torture. so tortured in Ancient China noble gentlemen who could not be physically punished and insulted. And in ancient Rome, for the same, a live goat was used, which licked the delinquent legs, previously soaked in heavily saline solution. There is evidence that a similar method of torture was also used in Nazi camps, using goose feathers for this.

Is it possible to die from tickling? Medical opinion.

Doctors say that when human body tickled, it becomes hyperexcitable. At the same time, any light touch causes convulsions and muscle spasms, and the worst thing is that the respiratory muscles are also exposed to this effect. With prolonged tickling, a person experiences a slight fright, and his body is very tense, trying to get rid of external influence. A person begins to suffocate and is quite capable of dying from this, especially if he has problems with respiratory system or heart. So is it possible to die from tickling? It turns out, yes. However, only in theory real cases death from tickling, thank God, was not recorded!

To fully understand the nature of tickling, we want to remind you of one more feeling associated with it. Remember how you feel if a loved one kisses you gently on the neck or blows on your ear? Nice, isn't it? And many children love to be squeezed and tugged a little. This pleasure comes to us due to the production by our body of a hormone responsible for the instinct of self-preservation - adrenaline. This always happens in borderline situations with different stressful conditions: with fear, anxiety and shock. The consequences for the body from tickling are the same as after an increase in the production of adrenaline: a person is excited, the vessels of his skin, mucous membranes and organs abdominal cavity constrict, and the vessels of the brain dilate and increase arterial pressure. All this can be for good human body, for example, for the development of the lungs and increase their volume, and to the detriment. Therefore, to the question of whether it is possible to die from tickling, it would be more correct to answer - no. But from pulmonary spasm or from cardiac arrest, which can be caused by prolonged and non-stop tickling - yes, especially if we are talking about people with pathologies of the heart and lungs!

Conclusion.

Tickling can be fun and a great way to bond with your baby. By stimulating blood circulation, it can be a kind of gymnastics for blood vessels. When tickled, breathing and heartbeat quicken, which provokes metabolism and improves human immunity. However, this is possible only when the person is completely healthy and when the tickling ends on time. But the line between feeling pleasure and stress is very thin, which can be crossed easily and quickly. And you can experience similar sensations that we get when tickling in other ways, without checking in practice whether it is possible to die from tickling. Heartfelt conversation with a child Interesting games, dancing, sports, walking together - things that are much safer and much more useful than tickling!

The laughter of a child is one of the most pleasant and memorable experiences for parents. Many are convinced that healthy baby able to show joyful emotions and laugh out loud. In an effort to make laugh adults use the most different games and entertainment. One of the most effective is tickling. The emotional response is immediate. The baby begins to squeal and laugh, delighting with his mood and cheerfulness. Toddlers really experience a lot of positive touches, but tickling is not so simple and harmless for children. AT certain situations this fascinating process can harm and cause psychological problems in adult life.

When Babies Get Tickled

Babies start laughing at 3-5 months. We are talking about a loud expression of emotions, since newborns are able to smile already in the first weeks after birth. Up to 3-4 months, these are just reflex reactions. If tickled baby, he may respond with a smile, but this behavior is not associated with experienced joy. Feel the source positive emotions and the difference in tactile impacts, children begin after 5 months. At this age, they already understand who tickles them and react with perky laughter.

There are children who do not express emotions for a long time. The reason may be immaturity nervous system, but more often parents are to blame for this behavior. If you communicate little with the baby, rarely smile and are used to restraining emotions, it makes no sense to wait for a response. Change yourself, become an example and use any safe ways to cheer small child. Just in such situations, gentle and light tickling can help. Children begin to feel touch and respond to it with laughter.

Why You Shouldn't Tickle Your Baby

The mistake many parents make is to misunderstand the reasons for laughter during tickling. In most cases, this is not the result of joy and pleasure, but just an automatic and uncontrollable reaction that has nothing to do with mood. Moreover, in infancy active tickling is an attack on vulnerable parts of the body. Influencing sensitive areas, adults observe familiar reactions, but they are not always pleasant. A person is able to laugh when he is hurt and scared.

Prolonged tickling causes nervous overexcitation. This is harmful, as the body is overloaded physically and emotionally. The intensity of laughter and its duration depend only on the parents. At 8–12 years old, children may say “no need” or “stop tickling.” Babies under one year old are not able to express desires in words. Physically, they are helpless, so it is important to stop them in time.

Parents do not always clearly feel the line when a feeling of pleasure is replaced by stress. To anxiety symptoms may include the following signs:

Redness of the face.
Tearing.
Intermittent breathing.
Dilated pupils.
Rapid pulse.

Not all parents know that tickling has contraindications. Among them are neurological ailments such as autism and epilepsy. Moreover, if the baby is sick with something, the reactions caused by tickling can lead to an exacerbation of the disease.

For excitable and hypersensitive children, it is better to choose calm entertainment and methods of tactile contact. In the first months, it is necessary to take into account hypersensitivity toddlers to physical contracts. Touch should be light and soothing. In this hectic period of life, it is better to refuse tickling, especially the effect on the heels.

By the way, tickling can be useful. With her help in early age tactile sensations and reflexes are trained, stress is relieved, body tissues are saturated with oxygen. This is a kind of gymnastics for blood vessels. During tickling, blood circulation is stimulated, metabolism and immunity improve, but this positive effect is possible only in the absence of health problems and the ability of parents to stop in time.

One of serious consequences prolonged and uncontrollable tickling can manifest itself in adulthood. Experts say that babies who were often tickled before 1 year old grow up with such a deviation as a fear of touching. They begin to be afraid of any form of tactile communication: hugs, kisses, handshakes, etc. Be sensitive, respect the measure and do not flirt. All entertainment with young children should be healthy and harmless.

conclusions

There are many interesting and safe ways cheer up the baby. Tickle laugh is exciting game, known to more than one generation, but this entertainment very quickly goes from pleasant to annoying. Learn to correctly feel the desires of children. Loving parents they love it when the baby laughs contagiously, but it’s not worth it own pleasure abuse it and overload the children's nervous system.