Saturday 7 January 2012

Animal Tickle Tests Shed Light On The Origins Of Laughter


It is perhaps the most curious of involuntary bodily responses, that is, to giggle and guffaw with reckless abandon when our feet, armpits, and ribs are touched in just the right way. To be tickled seems to conjure equal parts ecstasy and turmoil, though it manifests itself as the purest expression of unsolicited joy - laughter.

On its face, this bemusing phenomenon might seem a uniquely human tendency, yet for the last several years real scientists have been discovering tickle-induced chuckling all throughout the Animal Kingdom and are beginning to better understand the origins of laughter.

(via Look At This...)

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