The experience of tickling and ticklishness is the same across cultures: new research

de3sign / Getty Images We’ve all been tickled. We all know our ticklish spots, and we all know how we respond when these are tickled: helpless laughter, attempts at escape, perhaps screaming and retaliation. Is this a universal response among humans, or – like some other physical sensations and reactions – does it depend on culture? And for that matter, why do we react this way at all to this particular kind of touch? In an attempt to find out, Netherlands-based researchers Ziliang Xiong and…