Skip to Content
MilliporeSigma
  • Behavioral and Cortical Correlates of Self-Suppression, Anticipation, and Ambivalence in Rat Tickling.

Behavioral and Cortical Correlates of Self-Suppression, Anticipation, and Ambivalence in Rat Tickling.

Current biology : CB (2019-10-01)
Shimpei Ishiyama, Lena V Kaufmann, Michael Brecht
ABSTRACT

The relationship between tickling, sensation, and laughter is complex. Tickling or its mere anticipation makes us laugh, but not when we self-tickle. We previously showed rat somatosensory cortex drives tickling-evoked vocalizations and now investigated self-tickle suppression and tickle anticipation. We recorded somatosensory cortex activity while tickling and touching rats and while rats touched themselves. Allo-touch and tickling evoked somatotopic cortical excitation and vocalizations. Self-touch induced wide-ranging inhibition and vocalization suppression. Self-touch also suppressed vocalizations and cortical responses evoked by allo-touch or cortical microstimulation. We suggest a global-inhibition model of self-tickle suppression, which operates without the classically assumed self versus other distinction. Consistent with this inhibition hypothesis, blocking cortical inhibition with gabazine abolished self-tickle suppression. We studied anticipation in a nose-poke-for-tickling paradigm. Although rats nose poked for tickling, they also showed escaping, freezing, and alarm calls. Such ambivalence ("Nervenkitzel") resembles tickle behaviors in children. We conclude that self-touch-induced GABAergic cortical inhibition prevents self-tickle, whereas anticipatory layer 5 activity drives anticipatory laughter. VIDEO ABSTRACT.

MATERIALS
Product Number
Brand
Product Description

Supelco
Micro particle size standard based on polystyrene monodisperse, analytical standard, size: 30.0 μm
Pricing and availability is not currently available.