Why Can't You Tickle Yourself?

For many of us, the tickling response is paradoxical — the playfulness it inspires is typically enjoyable, but the overstimulated nerves and loss of control can feel distressing. Whether you find it enjoyable, uncomfortable, or somewhere in between, you can't tickle yourself. But why?

Govs science teacher Bert McLain P'07,'09 recently published an article in Live Science to help explain this phenomenon. The answer has to do with the brain already knowing about and downplaying the expected, predictable sensation of the self-tickle. 

"It's because the brain is always predicting into the future," David Eagleman, a neuroscientist at Stanford University, told Live Science. "Brains are not just reactive; they are trying to guess ahead at what's going to come next." McLain adds, "People are alert to external stimuli — detected by all of the senses — because noticing them could be crucial to survival." 

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Bert McLain has a Master’s degree in science writing from Johns Hopkins University and teaches Honors Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, AP Psychology, and an English elective in science writing at Governor's.