Why can’t you tickle yourself? And how come some people aren’t ticklish at all—while some on the autism spectrum are laughing more often?

Neuroscientist Konstantina Kilteni believes we should take tickling research more seriously—and she’s working with colleagues in a new tickle lab at Radboud University to get some answers.

Socrates wondered about this topic 2,000 years ago, and Charles Darwin racked his brains about it: what is a tickle, and why are we so sensitive to it?

“It is a complex interplay of motor, social, neurological, developmental, and evolutionary aspects,” says Kilteni, who says the subject is ‘under-researched’.

“If we know how tickling works at the brain level, it could provide a lot of insight into other topics in neuroscience.

“Tickling can strengthen the bond bet

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