Knismesis and gargalesis

Look up knismesis or gargalesis in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Knismesis and gargalesis are the

While the two terms are used in academic papers, they do not appear in many dictionaries and their origin is rarely declared. The term knismesis comes from the Ancient Greek κνισμός (knismós) meaning 'itching'.[3] The term gargalesis stems from the Ancient Greek γαργαλίζω (gargalízō) meaning 'to tickle'.^[4] The suffix -esis is used to form nouns of action or process.^[5]

Knismesis

The knismesis phenomenon requires low levels of stimulation to sensitive parts of the body, and can be triggered by a light

The gargalesis type of tickle works on primates (which include humans), and possibly on other species.^[7] For example, ultrasonic vocalizations described as "chirping", which play into social behavior and even have therapeutic effects, are reported in rats in response to human tickling.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} However, adult female rats may find the tickling sensation adverse.^[13] Because the nerves involved in transmitting "light" touch and itch differ from those nerves that transmit "heavy" touch, pressure and vibration, it is possible that the difference in sensations produced by the two types of tickle is due to the relative proportion of itch sensation versus touch sensation.^[14] While it is possible to trigger a knismesis response in oneself, it is usually impossible to produce gargalesthesia, the gargalesis tickle response, in oneself.^[2] Hypergargalesthesia is the condition of extreme sensitivity to tickling.^[15] The words knismesis and gargalesis were both used by Susie Dent in an episode of the BBC game show, Would I Lie to You? (Season 11, episode 4).

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