Look Ma, It's Science!
Study Shows Why We Can't Tickle Ourselves
March 6, 2006 — Healthy humans cannot tickle themselves or attribute their own voices to those of other people, according to a new study that determined that individuals anticipate their own actions, which can beneficially alter their sense of perception.
Since it is now believed that a breakdown in this anticipation process may underlie the delusions of schizophrenics, the finding may lead to a better understanding of this mental disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, around 51 million people worldwide suffer from schizophrenia.
The study also solves the long-standing mystery as to why most humans and animals cannot tickle themselves.
"It's well known that you can't tickle yourself," said Randy Flanagan, one of the study's authors. "One explanation is that since all the sensations are completely predictable, we do 'sensory attenuation,' which reduces our touch perception."
March 6, 2006 — Healthy humans cannot tickle themselves or attribute their own voices to those of other people, according to a new study that determined that individuals anticipate their own actions, which can beneficially alter their sense of perception.
Since it is now believed that a breakdown in this anticipation process may underlie the delusions of schizophrenics, the finding may lead to a better understanding of this mental disorder. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, around 51 million people worldwide suffer from schizophrenia.
The study also solves the long-standing mystery as to why most humans and animals cannot tickle themselves.
"It's well known that you can't tickle yourself," said Randy Flanagan, one of the study's authors. "One explanation is that since all the sensations are completely predictable, we do 'sensory attenuation,' which reduces our touch perception."
posted by littledevilworks at 12:56 PM
2 Comments:
Actually it would just explain why sex with someone ELSE is better (rather than just doing it yourself). :)
Unless of course you happen to be doing something horribly wrong when you have sex with someone else.
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