You can’t tickle yourself, so what good is it? I guess it could be fun if someone you’re attracted too tickles you, but from an evolutionary standpoint why does our body respond to being tickled, especially around the rib cage? As you might have guessed, a garish professor has written a book about the subject. A neuroscientist from the University of Maryland, Dr. Robert Provine, penned Laughter: A Scientific Investigation. He says that tickling, “…is partly a mechanism for social bonding between close companions and helps forge relationships between family members and friends.”

Laughter and tickling kicks in during the first few months of life, meaning it’s one of the first types of communication between baby and caregivers. There may also be a self-defense purpose in tickling. As kids grow up they may tickle each other as part of play, but the person being tickled is likely to try to protect his/her ribs or whatever body part if being tickled.

I guess the good or bad thing about tickling depending on your perspective, is that it’s affects trails off after age 40.

Do you have any tickle tales? Tickle, tickle!

Cover of Laughter: A Scientific Investigation