View source for Tickling

{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Short description|Action of making one laugh through physical touch}}
{{redirect|Tickle}}
{{for|the bird|Tikling}}
[[File:Zuber Buhler Fritz Tickling The Baby.jpg|thumb|''Tickling The Baby'' by [[Fritz Zuber-Buhler]], 19th century painting]]

'''Tickling''' is the act of [[Haptic perception|touching]] a part of a person's body in a way that causes involuntary twitching movements or [[laughter]].<ref name="dictionary.reference.com">{{cite web| url= http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tickling+?s=t|title=Tickling |publisher =Dictionary.com|access-date=2012-05-27}}</ref> The word {{Audio|En-us-tickle.ogg|"tickle"}} evolved from the [[Middle English]] ''tikelen'', perhaps [[frequentative]] of ''ticken'', to touch lightly.<ref name="dictionary.reference.com"/>

In 1897, psychologists [[G. Stanley Hall]] and [[Arthur Allin]] described a "tickle" as two different types of phenomena.<ref name="hallallin">{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=G. Stanley |last2=Allin |first2=Arthur |date=October 1897 |title=The psychology of tickling, laughing and the comic |journal=[[The American Journal of Psychology]] |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=1–42 |doi=10.2307/1411471 |jstor=1411471}}</ref> One type is caused by very light movement across the skin. This type of tickle, called a [[knismesis and gargalesis|knismesis]], generally does not produce laughter and is sometimes accompanied by an itching sensation.

==Physiology==
[[File:James John Hill (circle) Being tickled.jpg|alt=|thumb|James John Hill]]
Tickling results from a mild stimulation moving across the skin, and is associated with behaviors such as smiling, laughter, twitching, withdrawal and [[goose bumps]].

The tickle can be divided into two separate categories of sensation, [[knismesis and gargalesis]]. Knismesis, also known as a "moving itch", is a mildly annoying sensation caused by a light movement on the skin, such as from a crawling insect. This may explain why it has evolved in many animals.<ref name="Selden, S. T. 2004">{{cite journal |last1=Selden |first1=S. T. |year=2004 |title=Tickle |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology |volume=50 |issue=1|pages=93–97 |doi=10.1016/s0190-9622(03)02737-3 |pmid=14699372}}</ref> For example, a dog exhibiting the [[scratch reflex]] is an example of knismesis. When stimulated in the saddle region, most dogs will exhibit a reflexive rhythmic twitching of their hind legs. This reflex can be brought on by actions such as scratching, brushing, stroking, or even tapping the sensitive area. Horses also exhibit a response to knismesis, as they can be observed twitching the panniculus carnosus muscle in response to insects landing on their sides. Gargalesis reactions refer to a laughter-provoking feeling caused by a harsher, deeper pressure, stroked across the skin in various regions of the body.<ref name="Selden, S. T. 2004" /> These reactions are thought to be limited to humans and other [[primate]]s, although some research has indicated that [[rat]]s can also be tickled in this way.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Panksepp J, Burgdorf J |title="Laughing" rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy? |url=http://www.psych.umn.edu/courses/fall06/macdonalda/psy4960/Readings/PankseppRatLaugh_P&B03.pdf |journal=Physiol. Behav. |volume=79 |issue=3 |pages=533–547 |year=2003 |pmid=12954448 |doi=10.1016/S0031-9384(03)00159-8|s2cid=14063615 }}</ref> A German study also indicates that the gargalesis type of tickle triggers a defense mechanism for humans in the [[hypothalamus]] conveying submissiveness or fleeing from danger.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bigthink.com/robby-berman/why-we-may-love-to-tickle-but-we-mostly-hate-to-be-tickled-ourselves|title=The Psychology of Tickling And Why It Makes Us Laugh|date=12 July 2016|website=Big Think}}</ref>

It appears that the tickle sensation involves signals from [[nerve fibre]]s associated with both [[pain]] and [[tactition|touch]]. In 1939, [[Yngve Zotterman]] of the [[Karolinska Institute]] studied the knismesis type of tickle in cats, by measuring the [[action potential]]s generated in the [[nerve]] fibres while lightly stroking the skin with a piece of [[cotton]] [[wool]]. Zotterman found that the "tickling" sensation depended, in part, on the nerves that generate pain.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Zotterman Y |year=1939 |title=Touch, pain and tickling: An electrophysiological investigation on cutaneous sensory nerves |journal=Journal of Physiology |volume=95 |issue=1|pages=1–28 |pmc=1393960 |pmid=16995068 |doi=10.1113/jphysiol.1939.sp003707}}</ref> Further studies have discovered that when the [[pain]] nerves are severed by surgeons, in an effort to reduce [[chronic pain|intractable]] pain, the tickle response is also diminished.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Lahuerta J, etal |title=Clinical and instrumental evaluation of sensory function before and after percutaneous anterolateral cordotomy at cervical level in man |journal=Pain |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=23–30 |year=1990 |pmid=1700355 |doi=10.1016/0304-3959(90)91087-Y |s2cid=24785416 }}</ref> However, in some patients that have lost pain sensation due to [[spinal cord injury]], some aspects of the tickle response do remain.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Nathan PW |title=Touch and surgical division of the anterior quadrant of the spinal cord |journal=J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry |volume=53 |issue=11 |pages=935–939 |year=1990 |pmid=2283523 |doi=10.1136/jnnp.53.11.935 |pmc=488271}}</ref> Tickle may also depend on nerve fibres associated with the sense of touch. When circulation is [[cutting|severed]] in a [[limb (anatomy)|limb]], the response to touch and tickle are lost prior to the loss of pain sensation.<ref name="Harris" />

{{anchor|areas}}It might be tempting to speculate that areas of the skin that are the most sensitive to touch would also be the most ticklish, but this does not seem to be the case. While the palm of the hand is far more sensitive to touch, most people find that the soles of their feet are the most ticklish.<ref name=Harris /><ref name="hall">{{cite journal |last1=Hall |first1=G. Stanley |last2=Alliń |first2=Arthur |title=The Psychology of Tickling, Laughing, and the Comic |journal=The American Journal of Psychology |date=1897 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=1–41 |doi=10.2307/1411471 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1411471 |access-date=28 August 2024 |issn=0002-9556|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Other commonly ticklish areas, in decreasing order of effect, include the [[armpit]]s, the neck, under the chin and the ribs.<ref name="hall"/>

Some evidence suggests that laughing associated with tickling is a nervous reaction that can be triggered; indeed, very ticklish people often start laughing before actually being tickled.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Newman B, O'Grady MA, Ryan CS, Hemmes NS |title=Pavlovian conditioning of the tickle response of human subjects: Temporal and delay conditioning |journal=Perceptual and Motor Skills |volume=77 |issue=3 Pt 1 |pages=779–785 |year=1993 |pmid=8284153 |doi=10.2466/pms.1993.77.3.779|s2cid=38446310 }}</ref>

=== Tickle fight ===
A tickle fight is a playful [[Leisure|leisure activity]]<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |title=Can You Tickle Yourself? |url=https://wonderopolis.org/index.php/wonder/can-you-tickle-yourself |access-date=}}</ref> in which two people, or sometimes more, tickle each other to the point where one of the participants gives up.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} It can occur as a sudden outburst without consensus about it,{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} or as a carefully designed challenge with clear ground rules.<ref name="usatoday">{{cite web |last=Randazza |first=Janelle |date=28 February 2021 |title=6 reasons why you should roughhouse with your kids |url=https://reviewed.usatoday.com/parenting/features/why-you-should-roughhouse-with-your-kids |access-date=3 January 2024 |website=usatoday.com |publisher=USA Today}}</ref> Tickle fighting is similar to [[Pillow fight|pillow fighting]], in the sense that they are both silly and playful activities, usually not taken too seriously.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} Tickle fighting is especially enjoyed by young children.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Grigg |first1=Tessa |last2=Cummings |first2=Bindy |date= |title=Rough and Tumble – Learning Through Play |url=https://www.gymbaroo.com.au/articles/rough-and-tumble-learning-through-play/ |access-date=3 January 2024 |website=gymbaroo.com.au |publisher=GymbaROO KindyROO}}</ref> Tickle fight should not be confused with [[tickle torture]], which is an abusive and serious torturing method.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

A participant in a tickle fight can be called a tickler.<ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |title=James 2:12–13 |url=https://www.firstlarne.org.uk/blog/tickle-fights-and-mercy |access-date=}}</ref><ref name="slate">{{cite journal |last1=Palmer |first1=Brian |date=12 March 2010 |title=Why do we tickle? |url=https://slate.com/technology/2010/03/rep-eric-massa-tickled-his-staff-is-that-normal.html |journal=Slate |access-date=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last= |first= |title=It's the tickle not the tickler |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15320712-300-science-its-the-tickle-not-the-tickler/ |access-date=}}</ref>

==Social aspects==
[[File:François Boucher - Le sommeil interrompu.jpg|thumb|François Boucher – Le sommeil interrompu]]
[[Charles Darwin]] theorized on the link between tickling and social relations, arguing that tickling provokes laughter through the anticipation of pleasure.<ref>Darwin, C. 1872/1965. ''The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals''. London: John Murray. (pp. 201-202){{ISBN?}}</ref> If a stranger tickles a child without any preliminaries, catching the child by surprise, the likely result will be not laughter but withdrawal and displeasure. Darwin also noticed that for tickling to be effective, you must not know the precise point of stimulation in advance, and reasoned that this is why most people cannot effectively tickle themselves.

Darwin explained why we laugh when we are tickled by saying, "The imagination is sometimes said to be tickled by a ludicrous idea; and this so-called tickling of the mind is curiously analogous with that of the body. Laughter from being tickled [is manifestly a] reflex action; and likewise this is shown by the minute unstriped muscles, which serve to erect the separate hairs on the body".<ref>{{cite journal|last=Loftis|first=Fridlund|author2=Jennifer |title=Alan|journal=Relations Between Tickling and Humorous Laughter: Preliminary Support for the Darwin-Hecker Hypothesis|date=April 1990|volume=30|series=Biological Psychology|issue=141–150|page=201|url=http://bf4dv7zn3u.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=RELATIONS+BETWEEN+TICKLING+AND+HUMOROUS+LAUGHTER+-+PRELIMINARY+SUPPORT+FOR+THE+DARWIN-HECKER+HYPOTHESIS&rft.jtitle=BIOLOGICAL+PSYCHOLOGY&rft.au=FRIDLUND%2C+AJ&rft.au=LOFTIS%2C+JM&rft.date=1990-04-01&rft.pub=ELSEVIER+SCIENCE+BV&rft.issn=0301-0511&rft.volume=30&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=141&rft.epage=150&rft.externalDBID=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=A1990EK42000003}}</ref>

Tickling is defined by many [[child psychologist]]s as an integral [[human bonding|bonding]] activity between parents and children.<ref name=Fagen>Fagen R. ''The Future of Play Theory: A Multidisciplinary Inquiry into the Contributions of [[Brian Sutton-Smith]]''. Albany NY: SUNY Press; 1995. pp. 22–24.</ref> In the parent–child concept, tickling establishes at an early age the pleasure associated with being touched by a parent with a trust-bond developed so that parents may touch a child, in an unpleasant way, should circumstances develop such as the need to treat a painful injury or prevent them from harm or danger.<ref name=Fagen /> This tickling relationship continues throughout childhood and often into the early to mid [[teenage|teen]] years.

Another tickling social relationship is that which forms between siblings of relatively the same age.<ref name=Fagen /> Many case studies have indicated that siblings often use tickling as an alternative to outright [[violence]] when attempting to either punish or intimidate one another. The sibling tickling relationship can occasionally develop into an anti-social situation, or [[tickle torture]], where one sibling will tickle the other without mercy. The motivation behind tickle torture is often to portray the sense of [[Authoritarianism|domination]] the tickler has over the victim.<ref name=Fagen />

As with parents and siblings, tickling serves as a bonding mechanism between friends, and is classified by [[psychologist]]s as part of the fifth and highest grade of [[Play (activity)|social play]] which involves special [[intimacy]] or "[[Cognitive science|cognitive interaction]]".<ref name=Fagen /> This suggests that tickling works best when all the parties involved feel comfortable with the situation and one another.<ref name=Moran>Michael Moran, ''Erotic Tickling'', [[Greenery Press]], 2003. {{ISBN|1-890159-46-8}}.{{page?|date=February 2022}}</ref> It can also serve as an outlet for sexual energy during adolescence,<ref>[[Sigmund Freud|Freud S.]] "Three contributions to the theory of sex." In: ''The Basic Writings of Freud''. New York: Modern Library; 1938.{{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=February 2022}}</ref> and a number of people have stated in a study that their private areas were ticklish.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/02/06/the-surprising-reasons-why-we-tickle-one-another/|title=The surprising reasons why we tickle one another|date=6 February 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref><ref name=Selden>{{cite journal |author=Selden ST |title=Tickle |journal=J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=93–97 |year=2004 |pmid=14699372 |doi=10.1016/S0190-9622(03)02737-3}}</ref>

While many people assume that other people enjoy tickling, a recent survey of 84 college students indicated that only 32% of respondents enjoy being tickled, with 32% giving neutral responses and 36% stating that they do not enjoy being tickled.<ref name=Harris2>Harris C.R. and Nancy Alvarado. 2005. [http://www.csupomona.edu/~nalvarado/PDFs/CEM-1294.pdf "Facial expressions, smile types and self-reporting during humour, tickle and pain" (pdf)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060923122129/http://www.csupomona.edu/~nalvarado/PDFs/CEM-1294.pdf |date=2006-09-23}} ''Cognition and Emotion''. 9(5): 655–669.</ref> The study also found a very high level of embarrassment and anxiety associated with tickling. However, in the same study the authors found that the facial indicators of happiness and amusement do not correlate, with some people who indicated that they do not enjoy being tickled actually smiling more often during tickling than those who indicated that they do enjoy being tickled,<ref name=Harris2 /> which suggests that the facial indicators are not produced in response to the same emotions as under typical circumstances. It has also been suggested that people may enjoy tickling ''because'' it elicits laughter as well as the feeling of being tickled. Social psychologists find that mimicking expressions generally cause people to some degree experience that emotion.<ref name="Harris" />

Excessive tickling has been described as a primary sexual obsession and, under these circumstances, is sometimes considered a form of [[paraphilia]].<ref>[[Havelock Ellis|Ellis H.]] Studies in the psychology of sex. Vol iii. Philadelphia: FA Davis Co.; 1926.{{page?|date=February 2022}}</ref> Tickling can also be a form of [[sexual harassment]].<ref name=Moran />

==Purpose==
Some of history's greatest thinkers have pondered the mysteries of the tickle response, including [[Plato]], [[Francis Bacon]], [[Galileo Galilei]] and [[Charles Darwin]].<ref name=Harris/> In ''[[The Assayer]]'', Galileo philosophically examines tickling in the context of how we perceive reality:<ref>{{cite web|title=Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo|url=http://www.princeton.edu/~hos/h291/assayer.htm|author=Drake, Stillman|publisher=Doubleday & Co.|location=New York|year=1957|page=275|access-date=2008-11-10}}</ref><blockquote>
When touched upon the soles of the feet, for example, it feels in addition to the common sensation of touch a sensation on which we have imposed a special name, "tickling." This sensation belongs to us and not to the hand... A piece of paper or a feather drawn lightly over any part of our bodies performs intrinsically the same operations of moving and touching, but by touching the eye, the nose, or the upper lip it excites in us an almost intolerable titillation, even though elsewhere it is scarcely felt. This titillation belongs entirely to us and not to the feather; if the live and sensitive body were removed it would remain no more than a mere word.</blockquote>

[[Francis Bacon]] and [[Charles Darwin]] believed that humorous laughter requires a "light" frame of mind. But they differed on ticklish laughter: Darwin thought that the same light state of mind was required, whereas Bacon disagreed. When tickled, noted Bacon, "men even in a grieved state of mind, yet cannot sometimes forbear laughing."<ref>Darwin, C. 1872/1965. ''The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals''. London: John Murray.</ref>

One hypothesis, as mentioned above, is that tickling serves as a pleasant bonding experience between parent and child.<ref name=Harris/> However, this hypothesis does not adequately explain why many children and adults find tickling to be an unpleasant experience. Another view maintained is that tickling develops as a prenatal response and that the development of sensitive areas on the fetus helps to orient the fetus into favourable positions while in the womb.<ref>Simpson JY. ''On the attitude of the fetus in utero''. Obstetric Memoirs, vol ii. Philadelphia: Lippincott; 1855–1856.</ref>

It is unknown why certain people find areas of the body to be more ticklish than others; additionally, studies have shown that there is no significant difference in ticklishness among the [[gender]]s.<ref name=Weinstein>Weinstein, S. 1968. "Intensive and extensive aspects of tactile sensitivity as a function of body part, sex, and laterality." In ''The Skin Senses'', ed. D. R. Kenshalo. Springfield, Ill.: Thomas. pp. 195–222.</ref>
In 1924, J. C. Gregory proposed that the most ticklish places on the body were also those areas that were the most vulnerable during hand-to-hand [[combat]]. He posited that ticklishness might confer an [[evolution]]ary advantage by enticing the individual to protect these areas. Consistent with this idea, [[University of Iowa]] psychiatrist Donald W. Black observed that most ticklish spots are found in the same places as the protective [[reflex]]es.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Black DW |title=Laughter |journal=JAMA |volume=252 |issue=21 |pages=2995–2998 |year=1984 |pmid=6502861 |doi=10.1001/jama.252.21.2995}}</ref>

A third, hybrid hypothesis, has suggested that tickling encourages the development of combat skills.<ref name=Harris/> Most tickling is done by parents, siblings and friends and is often a type of rough-and-tumble play, during which time children often develop defensive and combat moves. Although people generally make movements to get away from, and report disliking, being tickled, laughter encourages the tickler to continue. If the facial expressions induced by tickle were less pleasant the tickler would be less likely to continue, thus diminishing the frequency of these combat lessons.

To understand how much of the tickle response is dependent on the interpersonal relationship of the parties involved, [[Nicholas Christenfeld|Christenfeld]] and Harris presented subjects with a "mechanical tickle machine". They found that the subjects laughed just as much when they believed they were being tickled by a machine as when they thought they were being tickled by a person.<ref>Harris, C. R., and N. Christenfeld. In press. ''Can a machine tickle?'' Psychonomic Bulletin and Review.</ref> Harris goes on to suggest that the tickle response is reflex, similar to the [[startle reflex]], that is contingent upon the element of surprise.<ref name=Harris/>

==Self-tickling==
The question as to why a person could not tickle themselves was raised by the Greek philosopher [[Aristotle]]<ref name=Harris>{{cite journal|author=Harris, Christine R.|title=The mystery of ticklish laughter|journal=American Scientist|year=1999|volume=87|issue=4|page=344|doi=10.1511/1999.4.344|bibcode=1999AmSci..87..344H|s2cid=221586788 }}</ref> in ''[[Problems (Aristotle)|Problems]]''. His theory was that laughter arises from being deranged or deceived, to be surprised (such as in tickling) is inherently to be deceived, and one cannot surprise, deceive, and thereby tickle oneself.<ref>{{Cite book |title=[[Problems (Aristotle)|Problems]] |author=[[Aristotle]] |volume=XXXV |translator=W.S. Hett |quote= Now laughter is a form of derangement and deception. This is why men laugh when struck in the midriff; for it is not a chance part with which we laugh. Now what happens unawares deceives us. This is why laughter occurs and is not produced by oneself.}}</ref>

[[Knismesis]] may represent a [[vestigial structure|vestige]] of the primitive grooming response, in effect; knismesis serves as a "non-self detector" and protects the subject against foreign objects. Perhaps due to the importance of knismesis in protection, this type of light touch is not dependent on the element of [[Surprise (emotion)|surprise]] and it is possible for one to induce self-knismesis, by light touching.<ref name=Selden/>

[[Gargalesis]], on the other hand, produces an odd phenomenon: when a person touches "ticklish" parts on their own body no tickling sensation is experienced. It is thought that the tickling requires a certain amount of surprise, and because tickling oneself produces no unexpected motion on the skin, the response is not activated.<ref name=Selden/> In 1998, Blakemore and colleagues analyzed the "self-tickle" response by using [[MRI]] technology to investigate how the [[brain]] distinguishes between sensations the person makes for themself, and sensations others create for. When subjects used a [[joystick]] to control a "tickling robot", they could not make themselves laugh. This suggests that when a person tries to tickle themselves, the [[cerebellum]] sends to the [[somatosensory cortex]] precise information on the position of the tickling target and therefore what sensation to expect. Apparently an unknown [[Cerebral cortex|cortical]] mechanism then decreases or inhibits the tickling sensation.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Blakemore SJ, Wolpert DM, Frith CD |title=Central cancellation of self-produced tickle sensation |journal=Nat. Neurosci. |volume=1 |issue=7 |pages=635–640 |year=1998 |pmid=10196573 |doi=10.1038/2870|s2cid=9260106 }}</ref>

While the reasons for the inhibition of the tickling sensation during self-tickling remain unknown, research shows that the human brain is trained to know what sensation to expect when the body moves or performs an action.<ref>{{Scientific American Frontiers|11| 5}}</ref> Another reason may be the lack of awareness of many sensations arising from self-movement, such as not paying attention to one's own vocal cords. When one tries to tickle oneself by grabbing one's sides, the brain foresees this contact between body and hand and prepares itself for it. This removes the feeling of unease and panic, causing the body to not react to tickling in the same way it would if someone else supplied the stimulus.

However, some people with schizophrenia have the ability to tickle themselves. Non-pathological individuals high in schizotypical traits also have a greater self-tickling ability than people low in schizotypical traits. This is suggested to possibly correlate with a less pronounced ability of these people to track and attribute the results of their own actions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://digest.bps.org.uk/2016/03/22/people-with-schizophrenia-like-traits-can-tickle-themselves-whereas-most-people-cant/|title = People with schizophrenia-like traits can tickle themselves (Whereas most people can't)|newspaper = Research Digest|date = 22 March 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=tit-for-tat-delusions |date=21 December 2010 |last=Lametti |first=Daniel |title=Can't Tickle Yourself? That's a Good Thing |newspaper=[[Scientific American]] |access-date=8 February 2012}}</ref>

==As physical abuse==
{{main|Tickle torture}}
Although some consensual tickling can be a positive, playful experience, non-consensual tickling can be frightening, uncomfortable, and painful for the recipient. [[Heinz Heger]], a man imprisoned in the [[Flossenbürg concentration camp]] during World War II, witnessed [[Nazi]] prison guards perform tickle torture on a fellow inmate. He describes this incident in his book ''The Men with the Pink Triangle'':<ref>Heger, Heinz. ''The Men With the Pink Triangle''. Boston: Alyson Publications, 1980. {{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=February 2022}}</ref> "The first game that the SS sergeant and his men played was to tickle their victim with goose feathers, on the soles of his feet, between his legs, in the armpits, and on other parts of his naked body. At first the prisoner forced himself to keep silent, while his eyes twitched in fear and torment from one SS man to the other. Then he could not restrain himself and finally he broke out in a high-pitched laughter that very soon turned into a cry of pain, while the tears ran down his face, and his body twisted against his chains. After this tickling torture, they let the lad hang there for a little, while a flood of tears ran down his cheeks and he cried and sobbed uncontrollably."

An article in the ''[[British Medical Journal]]'' describes a European method of tickle torture in which a goat was compelled to lick the victim's feet after they had been dipped in salt water. Once the goat had licked the salt off, the victim's feet would be dipped in the salt water again and the process would repeat itself.<ref>{{cite journal | author1 = [[Gavin Yamey]] | year = 2001 | title = Torture: European Instruments of Torture and Capital Punishment from the Middle Ages to present | journal = British Medical Journal | volume = 323 | issue = 7308| page = 346 | pmc=1120948 | doi=10.1136/bmj.323.7308.346}}</ref> In ancient Japan, authority figures could administer punishments to those convicted of crimes that were beyond the criminal code. This was called ''shikei'', which translates as 'private punishment'. One such torture was ''kusuguri-zeme'': "merciless tickling."<ref>Schreiber, Mark. ''The Dark Side: Infamous Japanese Crimes and Criminals''. Japan: Kodansha International, 2001. p. 71.{{ISBN?}}</ref>

In Vernon Wiehe's book ''Sibling Abuse'', he published his research findings regarding 150 adults who were abused by their siblings during childhood. Several reported tickling as a type of physical abuse they experienced, and based on these reports it was revealed that abusive tickling is capable of provoking extreme physiological reactions in the victim, such as vomiting, incontinence (losing control of bladder), and loss of consciousness due to inability to breathe.<ref>Wiehe, Vernon. ''Sibling Abuse: Hidden Physical, Emotional, and Sexual Trauma''. New York: Lexington Books, 1990. {{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=February 2022}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Feeling]]
* [[Tickling fetishism]]

==Further reading==
*{{cite web | title=Why can't you tickle yourself? | website=BBC| date=9 January 2015 | url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150109-why-you-cant-tickle-yourself |first=David|last=Robson}}
* {{cite journal |vauthors=Carlsson K, Petrovic P, Skare S, Petersson KM, Ingvar M |title=Tickling expectations: neural processing in anticipation of a sensory stimulus |journal=Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=691–703 |year=2000 |pmid=10936920|doi=10.1162/089892900562318|hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-0013-391D-A |s2cid=1232651 |hdl-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |vauthors=Fried I, Wilson CL, MacDonald KA, Behnke EJ |title=Electric current stimulates laughter |journal=Nature |volume=391 |issue=6668 |page=650 |year=1998 |pmid=9490408 |doi=10.1038/35536|bibcode=1998Natur.391..650F |s2cid=4305989 |doi-access=free }}
* {{cite journal |author=Fry WF |title=The physiologic effects of humor, mirth, and laughter |journal=JAMA |volume=267 |issue=13 |pages=1857–1858 |year=1992 |pmid=1545471 |doi=10.1001/jama.267.13.1857}}
* "Different Types of Laughter Modulate Connectivity within Distinct Parts of the Laughter Perception Network." Dirk Wildgruber, Diana P. Szameitat, Thomas Ethofer, Carolin Brück, Kai Alter, Wolfgang Grodd, Benjamin Kreifelts.{{ISBN?}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{wiktionary|tickle}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040622153720/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/connected/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fconnected%2F1998%2F10%2F29%2Fecftick29.xml Telegraph (UK) Article on "robot tickling experiment"]
* [http://www.boston.com/globe/search/stories/health/how_and_why/120197_2.htm Boston Globe Online – Why are some people not ticklish?]{{subscription required}}
* [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/188/is-it-possible-for-someone-to-be-tickled-to-death Article 'Is it possible for someone to be tickled to death?'] from [[The Straight Dope]]

[[Category:Tickling| ]]