Is our sensitivity to tickling innate/genetically determined, or is it something we develop from a young age?

[P Nardoes]

We all understand that tickle sensitivity is personal and that our ticklishness depends on many factors, but somewhere there must be a basis that determines whether and how sensitive we are. I was thinking about this recently and have had a question in my head ever since that won't leave me alone, and I am now curious how you view this.

Could our ticklishness be more of an innate and genetic trait, or is it actually something that was unconsciously taught to us from a young age? As in, does our childhood experience with being tickled have a significant effect, or was it already determined from the moment we were born?

I am curious to hear your thoughts on this. 🙂

 

[Silverflame3]

It probably has to do with the configuration of your nervous system. It's possible to have someone with thick, dry skin and still be more ticklish through clothes than someone on bare, smooth, treated skin. As for the science of nerves and the nervous system, we haven't the slightest idea. Human knowledge in that regard is mostly observations and reverse engineering by poking around stuff we barely comprehend.

It is possible to learn how to block the sensation and start ignoring it, though I'm not certain you can cognitively increase it by willing so. What most folks do is build up mental defenses and then drop them with someone they feel safe with. Stuff that alters your perception can also forcefully change your percpetion of sensations (such as weed), but also by working on your nervous system.

 

[TheMasterTouch]

Ancestry DNA has found a gene that influences ticklishness. Someone posted about it a while back.

 

[FFT32]

I can't speak as a lee on this. But as a ler, I have always maintained that my love to tickle is both genetically pre-determined and influenced by early experiences.

The urge was always there as far back as I can rember and early experiences most definitely cinched it in!

 

[WickedTouch]

We all understand that tickle sensitivity is personal and that our ticklishness depends on many factors, but somewhere there must be a basis that determines whether and how sensitive we are. I was thinking about this recently and have had a question in my head ever since that won't leave me alone, and I am now curious how you view this.

Could our ticklishness be more of an innate and genetic trait, or is it actually something that was unconsciously taught to us from a young age? As in, does our childhood experience with being tickled have a significant effect, or was it already determined from the moment we were born?

I am curious to hear your thoughts on this. 🙂

Almost certainly both. There’s a lot that goes into the “formula” of ticklishness: nerve endings, nerve diversity, bio chemistry, individual brain formation, psychological factors, and more. Most of them have the joint contributing factors of genetic encoding and developmental pressures that result in that individual’s specific processing of being tickled.

 

[nayfeliciano.]

I think it’s a mix of both, but with a stronger lean toward innate/genetic for the really extreme cases.

I’ve always been ridiculously ticklish for as long as I can remember — even as a little kid I was the one who would lose it from the lightest touch. My feet, navel, and inner thighs have been death spots since I was young. So I definitely believe some people are just wired to be way more sensitive.

That said, childhood experiences can definitely amplify it. Being tickled a lot (or being teased about it) can make you more aware of the sensations and sometimes even condition stronger reactions over time. I know people who weren’t very ticklish as kids but became much more so as adults after being in tickle-heavy relationships.

For me personally, I think I was born with a high baseline and life just turned the volume way up 😂

What do you think? Do you believe it’s mostly genetic, or do you think childhood experiences play the bigger role?