I was always told that you can’t tickle yourself, because your brain is receiving 2 touch sensations, simultaneously.
You are feeling the sensation(s) from the finger(s) doing the tickling, and you are at the same time feeling the sensations from the area being touched by your own finger(s).
So, as it was explained to me, your brain can’t process both of those feelings at the same time, and it becomes “confused” with two different sets of messages hitting it at the same time.
August 31, 2008, 1:27 AM EDT