Why can't you tickle yourself?

Personally, I'm not a big fan of being tickled (I may have felt differently as a kid, but as a thirtysomething adult... no thanks). However, with a couple kids under the age of 5, I can say that a fair amount of tickling does occur in our house. What can I say. Those little bare bellies are just calling out for a tickle, and as the infectious laughter and big smiles can testify, the kids seem to like it... most of the time).

They even come up with new ways to tickle. A couple days ago, our daughter ran up to me and said, "Daddy, give me a 'waffle-tickle'!" When asked to describe said tickle to her clueless dad, she explained that it simply involved tickling the top of her head. What the connection is between the top of one's head and waffles is beyond me, but hey, if it'll make her happy....

But really, haven't you ever wondered why you can't tickle yourself? Well, thankfully we have scientists working hard to solve age-old mysteries like that. Here's the scoop (via GeekPress).