Why tickling makes us laugh even when it annoys us and other mysteries that baffle neuroscience

Why tickling makes us laugh even when it annoys us and other mysteries that baffle neuroscience

There are some everyday human behaviors that seem simple, yet inexplicable. One of them is what scientists call gargalesis, which the rest of us know as tickling. These are the behaviors that provoke an involuntary and uncontrollable fit of laughter, even when you don’t want to. From Aristotle to Charles Darwin, people have pondered the physical and cognitive mechanisms triggered by tickling. However, despite its triviality, science has yet to f…