Why do we laugh when we're tickled?

Question

I mean beside the fact when we are just happy. Like, no matter how hard i try, or how bad of a mood i am in, i always laugh uncontrolleably when someone tickles me...

Answer 1

The fact that laughter and smiling derived from humor and tickling have very little in common is supported by a study by the UCSD psychologists, published this month (January 1997) in the journal Cognition and Emotion, involving 72 undergraduate students (48 female and 24 male, ages 18-41).

"Even though tickling seems light-hearted, almost silly, people have wondered about it for a long time," said Christine Harris, a UCSD psychology graduate student who co-authored two recent studies on the subject with Nicholas Christenfeld, assistant professor of psychology. "People want to know why we
laugh and smile even though most report they don't like it."

The studies suggest that tickling is a reflex action, somewhat akin to the jerking response experienced when your knee is hit by a rubber mallet in just the right spot. With tickling, instead, you burst into smiles or laughter and sometimes squirm or pull your body away to get away from the source of the tickling.

Further, even though the response from tickling is outwardly gleeful, the inward feeling is not mirthful, unlike when you have just heard a good joke. Instead, the feeling may be more closely aligned with other emotions such as social anxiety or nervous laughter.

"An analogy would be crying," said Harris. "There's crying at a funeral and crying from cutting onions. Although there's a common physiological reaction between the two types of tears, you don't think of them as at all similar. The only thing shared is the facial expression."

Answer 2

once you tickle somebody, you extremely stimulate the unmyelinated nerve fibers that reason soreness Feeling ticklish has to do with the way your strategies works. touch triggers nerves that deliver impulses to the strategies to make your strategies up what the reaction must be. you are able to no longer tickle your self - there is not any ingredient of ask your self. and you're no longer ticklish on physique areas that are often uncovered like your palms and legs. the sensation that makes you experience ticklish fairly of feeling soreness has to do with sensory concept.

Answer 3

Because tickling is a mild form of nerve stimulation...

Unless you were tickled to the point of tearing, or peeing your pants...

Then it's a major form of stimulation...

:o)
Jerry

Answer 4

because its a sign that you want to sleep with them.... if its a person of the same sex you have bigger problems than wondering why you are laughing

Answer 5

its because you want to have sex. Its a way of letting you and the body know that you are still OK and that you have a healthy and normal sex drive.

Answer 6

Think about it. Not really laughing, but rather squirming.

Answer 7

~~~because it tickles the nerve endings,,,sending signals of joy to your brain,,,,~~~~

Answer 8

cuz it tickles

Answer 9

Well all I know is it does something with nerves.

Answer 10

maybe you're just really ticklish