Why is my stomach ticklish

Many scientists over the past few decades have studied the human reactions to tickling. Although they have not been able to establish a relation between tickling and humour, they've found that laughter and tickling are connected, via nerve stimulation and brain activity.

So let's see what happens when you are tickled. The outermost layer of your skin is known as the epidermis. And the epidermis is bundled with many nerve endings.

When stimulated, these nerve endings engage two parts of your brain - one that analyzes the touch, and the other that regulates pleasurable feelings. To learn more or opt-out, read our Cookie Policy. Tickling has such a history that Aristotle wrote about it in BC: "The fact that human beings only are susceptible to tickling is due 1 to the fineness of their skin and 2 to their being the only creatures that laugh.

But many scientists have actually delved into the topic. Here's what we know. A feather on your skin creates a different type of tickle than a person tickling your stomach. The definition of a tickle is a little loose, because it's both a noun and a verb. There are actually two types of tickles, known as knismesis and gargalesis. Knismesis is a light sensation, like what you'd feel when a feather is run across your skin.

You want to brush away the sensation because it's an irritating feeling. The other type of tickling, gargalesis, is what happens when someone is tickled more aggressively, like by another person. The differentiation dates back to , when psychologist G. Stanley Hall and his coauthor Arthur Allin defined the two types for research purposes. The biggest distinction between them: gargalesis is the kind of tickle you can't do to yourself, but you can certainly give yourself knismesis.

Separating the two in research helps scientists clarify the type of tickles they're studying. There's no clear reason why humans are ticklish, but it could be because it's a way for parents and kids to communicate.

Scientists have various ideas about why, but aren't completely sure. One is that tickling is rewarding: it causes laughter, and, simply put, people like laughing. Tickling is also a form of social bonding. It's one of the early forms of communication between parents and children and is a way young children play around with their friends.

So perhaps, researchers say, tickling is a way to form connections with people. But this reason doesn't apply to everyone, as some people find tickling painful. Researchers do not know why some people are more ticklish than others. Some speculate that ticklishness might be genetic, but there is no conclusive research to support this theory. Some people may be ticklish on certain parts of the body but not others. For instance, one person could be very ticklish on their feet, but not under their armpits.

Some people are more sensitive to touch than others, so skin sensitivity can play a role in how ticklish a person is. A person with a loss of feeling in a particular part of the body, or with desensitized nerves, would be less likely to experience the tickling response.

Tickling is not unique to humans, which indicates that it evolved to benefit both humans and other animals. Other mammals, including apes and mice, also show signs of being ticklish. Apes play tickle games with one another and mice will chirp on tickling. Babies do not respond to tickling with laughter until they are around 6 months old.

Some researchers believe that babies only become ticklish when they learn that tickling should be funny. However, laughter does not always indicate pleasure, and early research suggests that even when babies do not see tickling causing laughter in others, they still eventually laugh as a result of tickling.

Tickling is more intense when it comes as a surprise, so people could place their hands on those of the tickler to try to reduce ticklishness. This would allow them to predict what the tickler is doing, and might even trick their brain into thinking they are tickling themselves. Some people believe that they can desensitize themselves to tickling through repetition. People who are very ticklish can get people to tickle them for practice.

However, scientific research has not uncovered a specific strategy that will help people become less ticklish. Though it is a nearly universal human experience, researchers still do not fully understand the tickle response. It does not seem to link to particular personality traits or physical attributes, although people with nerve damage or a decreased sensitivity to pain may not be ticklish. People who suddenly lose their tickling reflex should see a doctor.

For others, tickling is no laughing matter. This especially applies to children. Stop tickling at the first sign of discomfort. Researchers say people with alcoholism can have trouble recognizing emotions expressed by others as well as by themselves.

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