My 9 year old daughter wants to know why people are ticklish?

Similar questions: year daughter people ticklish.

What makes people ticklish Being ticklish is a complicated trait rooted in our evolutionary past. Two searches, "physiology + ticklish" and "why are we ticklish," turned up a number of articles that helped us understand this touchy, feely human feature. Scientists suggest that being ticklish is our defense against creepy crawlies like spiders and bugs, a physiological response alerting us to a specific type of threat.

That is why vulnerable parts of our bodies -- feet, chest, and armpits, are among the most ticklish. While there is no question that being ticklish is neurological, scientists contend that it is also learned. One theory sees ticklishness as a personality-based response to perceived attack.

Antsy folks may laugh uncontrollably at the lightest touch, or even without being touched at all, while folks made of sterner stuff won't budge during more aggressive tickle attacks. If you close your eyes and try to remain calm while you are tickled, you can decrease panic, reduce giggles, and dull sensation. And, no matter how hard you try, it is nearly impossible to tickle yourself.

Tickling satisfies our human need to touch. Robert R. Provine, a professor of neuroscience and author of Quest for Laughter, sees the tickle as a form of communication between friends, family, and lovers, playing a key role in the evolution of social and sexual behavior.

He points to chimps tickling each other during play, parents tickling little kids, and lovers tickling each other affectionately. "If you think the social component is not important," Provine says, "Try tickling a stranger. " Sources: http://ask.yahoo.com/20010703.html .

Tickling The reasons why people are ticklish may go back a long, long way. Tickling may have been one of the first ways early humans showed that they liked each other. It's a form of non-verbal communication.

Also being ticklish let's you know if something is crawling on you. Darwin (A traveler and scientist from England) was the first to point out that a tickling victim squirms and strains to withdraw the tickled part, to get away from attacks on vulnerable areas such as the soles of the feet, armpits, belly and flank. If a fly settles on a horse's belly, the horse ripples his skin muscles as a tickled child squirms.

But he doesn't laugh. Children don't always either. "The child will laugh only--and this is the crux of the matter--when it perceives tickling as a mock attack, a caress in mildly aggressive disguise," says the Encyclopedia Britannica. Sources: Yahoo .

Nervous system reaction Because we have a nervous system that reacts to outside stimuli. Light touch (tickling) causes receptors within our skin to send messages to the nervous system and that’s what causes the sensation.

Hmmm interesting one * People are ticklish so that we can make them laugh when they frown. * People are ticklish so that friends can bring in a smile. * This is for the girl's mother: people are ticklish so that lovers can make each other smile.

Jokes apart: The real reason for tickles is not known. Check out Wikipedia for more on Tickles -------------------------Wiki's entry Why do we tickle? Many of history's greatest thinkers have pondered the mysteries of the tickle response, including Plato, Francis Bacon, Galileo and Darwin.

6 Many scientists have followed in their footsteps and have ventured opinions and theories that attempt to explain the nearly ubiquitous nature of the tickle response. One theory, as mentioned above, is that tickling serves as a pleasant bonding experience between parent and child.6 However, this theory 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.15 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 between the genders.16 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 evolutionary 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 reflexes.17 A third, hybrid theory, has suggested that tickling encourages the development of combat skills.6 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 valuable 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 valuable combat lessons. To understand how much of the tickle response is dependent on the interpersonal relationship of the parties involved, 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.18 Harris goes on to suggest that the tickle response is reflex, similar to the startle reflex, that is contingent on the element of surprise.6 Sources: experience .

" "My 7 year old daughter gets dreams of big objects & people gets frightened & says, she is having stomach ache at night. " "How many people in the US took a survey last year?" "How many people visit a library each year?

My 7 year old daughter gets dreams of big objects & people gets frightened & says, she is having stomach ache at night.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.