Photo credit: vidyasury.com
I think many of you also have this question. But before I give you the answer to this question, let me provide some background on what makes people laugh when tickled.
When we are touched, the nerve endings in the epidermis send signals to our brain. These signals are picked up by the somatosensory cortex, which is the part of the brain responsible for providing pleasurable feelings. However, the anterior cingulate cortex first analyzes the signals.
Now let's get back to the original question posed at the title of this post. Why can't we laugh when we tickle ourselves? The answer is that the cerebellum at the back of our brain tells us that we are about to tickle ourselves, so the anterior cingulate cortex does not waste any time analyzing the signal from the tickle.
This would not be the result if we let other people do the tickling for us. Here we would feel the mix of pleasure and discomfort associated with the tickle. It seems the brain can identify who initialized the action, our self or others. This is an example depicting how self-awareness and consciousness can lead to various outcomes.
Although there is a way wherein we can trick our brain to make us feel the same pleasurable agony when we tickle ourselves, this requires the use of some equipment. Why anyone would go to such length for a trivial concern is foreign to me. The explanation would be better left to the scientists.
Photo credit: bartamaha.com
Trivia: Gorillas and rats behave like humans when they are tickled! They laugh out loud (LOL) when tickled. However, they don't shout "LOL" like humans do! LOL
* Warning: This article is my original work. Please don't plagiarize.
