Comments on: Scientists may be a little strange…

By: sergey

sergey — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 17:09:49 +0000

I worked a lot with small laboratory animals: mice, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits, and this does not surprise me a bit. There is a simple explanation. Early infancy is the happiest period of life for every mammalian sucking mother’s milk. And all this time mother licks her baby to keep its fur clean. This sensation is very alike tickling and ensures infant that mother is here and pays attention to it – the most important positive signal in its life. Humans are probably a rare exception because we do not possess fur and our mothers do not lick us.

By: Militant Bibliophile

Militant Bibliophile — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:26:04 +0000

My wife will shriek in terror if you try to tickle her; my daughter considers it my major purpose in life to tickle her whenever she wants (which is often). Go figure.

By: SteveH

SteveH — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 03:30:14 +0000

I’m ticklish but for some weird reason can’t tickle myself. Surely more rat studies will reveal this about them also.

By: waltj

waltj — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 03:09:14 +0000

I never liked being tickled. Two of my cats agree with me. The third loves having his belly tickled. He’ll roll onto his back, purr loudly, and clearly enjoy the experience. Go for his paws, though, and you’ll learn quickly about his claws.

By: Steve

Steve — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 01:48:21 +0000

JJ, on the surface these studies may not seem important but if you think about how the nervous system works it is fascinating to see behaviors in mice that we associate with people. Studies of structure and function in the nervous system are pushing the limit of what is possible with biology.

By: J.J. formerly Jimmy J.

J.J. formerly Jimmy J. — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 22:08:40 +0000

And who, pray tell, is paying for these studies?

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:56:35 +0000

Have you heard about the study showing that male mice sing?

http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/6040.aspx

By: James Sullivan

James Sullivan — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 21:36:16 +0000

My twins love to be tickled. The are three years old now and beg for my wife and I to tickle them. They really like to be tickled in their armpits, which I find especially bizarre since that is where I was always ticklish and I too found it to be torture. I don’t understand it. And my wife isn’t ticklish at all so she can’t identify at all.