Structural, neural and mental underpinnings of rat ticklishness
Final Report Abstract
In our grant ‘Structural, neural and mental underpinings of rat ticklishness’ we investigated the neural basis of ticklishness. The grant led to several insights, in particular we learnt, why we can’t tickle ourselves. We show that such self-tickle suppression is the result of intracortical inhibition in the somatosensory cortex. Behavioral experiments showed that the brain cannot distinguish self- and allo-touch, as previously assumed. We also found that rats – much like humans – showed a great deal of ambivalence in tickle-related behaviors. Inspired by this finding we documented basic similarities between the rat and the human tickle response. Finally, we show contagious tickle responses in rats. The analysis of the neural underpinnings of such responses provides insights in the basic mechanisms of empathy.
Publications
- (2019) Behavioral and Cortical Correlates of Self-Suppression, Anticipation, and Ambivalence in Rat Tickling. Curr. Biol. 29 , 3153-3164
Ishiyama, S, Kaufmann, LV, and Brecht, M
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.07.085)
