Skip to the answer

Why can't you tickle yourself?

The short answer

When you move, your brain predicts what you will feel and turns that feeling down. When someone else tickles you, it cannot make that prediction.

Fact-checked Checked against 8 sources

Watch it in about a minute, here or on YouTube

You can barely tickle yourself, no matter how hard you try. Your brain is one step ahead of you.

What does your brain do?

When you move, your brain predicts what you will feel, and when. Then it turns that feeling down. So your own tickle feels much weaker.

Illustration from the video: Then it turns that feeling down.

Illustration from the video: So your own tickle feels much weaker.

Why can others tickle you?

When someone else tickles you, your brain cannot make that prediction. Nothing turns the tickle down, so it feels much stronger.

Illustration from the video: Nothing turns the tickle down, so it feels much stronger.

Why would your brain do that?

Scientists think turning down your own touch helps you notice touches from outside. That way, you notice a bug crawling up your arm.

Illustration from the video: That way, you notice a bug crawling up your arm.

Illustration from the video: When the robot added a tiny delay, the touch felt more ticklish.

One more thing

In one experiment, people tickled their own palm using a robot arm. When the robot added a tiny delay, the touch felt more ticklish.

Sources

Keep asking

See all 54 answers