That’s funny! Some of us can tickle ourselves silly
BEING able to tickle yourself has been considered almost impossible – until now.
Scientists have found a select few people who could rewrite the rules of laughter – as they can collapse into giggles by self-tickling.
But the psychologists from Lille University, France, warn that the ability could mean that the person is at greater risk of schizophrenia.
For most people, tickling themselves is almost impossible – and there has long been confusion about why we respond to tickling by laughing in the first place.
The prevailing theory has been that people respond to being touched under the ribs because they feel powerless, and laughter ensues when it becomes clear that the intentions of the assailant are harmless. However, those who can tickle themselves were found to have little ability to predict how their own movements would feel, according to the report published in the journal Consciousness and Cognition.
It was found that this is because those who can self-tickle have a version of ‘schizotypy’ – mild forms of traits seen in schizophrenics. These include unusual perceptive experiences, bizarre behaviour and odd beliefs.
The scientists’ findings came from an experiment in which 27 volunteers who had scored highly in the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire were asked to tickle themselves with a paintbrush while wearing a mask.