How does itching work?

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I don't understand it.

― adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:18 (twenty years ago)

why can't you tickle yourself?

― LSTD (answer) (sexyDancer), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:20 (twenty years ago)

I've often wondered. I think either your nerve ending is stimulated and gets in some kind of feedback loop, or there's a random pulse a bit like a random twitch you get coming down a motor neurone, except in a feely-type nerve (as we doctors call it). And when you scratch, you're replacing a small "imaginary" stimulus with a real and stronger stimulus, and when that dies down the original itch has been superceded.

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:25 (twenty years ago)

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003217.htm

It's a common nervous system response to any of about a billion things. It's like asking, "What causes pleasure?"

― Kenan (kenan), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:28 (twenty years ago)

oooh... I like beanz's theory.

― Kenan (kenan), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:29 (twenty years ago)

What causes pleasure?

― adam... (nordicskilla), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:30 (twenty years ago)

I really hate it when people use "itch" as a verb when they mean "scratch".

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:31 (twenty years ago)

I never understood how smell works. In a science GCSE paper, one of the questions was something like 'how does smell travel from a saucepan to a person's nose' and I think we were meant to say 'convection' or something (nb. this is probably totally wrong, it's just an example - I haven't done anything remotely sciencey for 13 years) and I got a big red X by my answer, but never an explanation of what I should have put.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, I read in the paper SECRET OF HOW SMELL WORKS DISCOVERED. So how come I got asked a question 13 or 14 years ago that nobody knew the answer to??

(I have no clue about itching)

― Madchen (Madchen), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:32 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, itching is just a specific type of signal sent by the nerves, like "pain" or "heat," etc. What does and doesn't trigger it varies more by species than pain triggers do, presumably because of different levels of vulnerability to parasites, infections, etc.

― Tep (ktepi), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:34 (twenty years ago)

Anyone ever read the "Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?", "Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses?" series of books?

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:36 (twenty years ago)

In a similar vein, I want to know what hystamines do and why I have them. I get a runny nose and itchy eyes in the presence of pollen or hairy pets and anti-hystamine makes it stop. Does hystamine serve some purpose in my body apart from irritating me?

― Onimo (GerryNemo), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:37 (twenty years ago)

What causes pleasure?

I'm going to resist the obvious answer. I guess it's just an evolutionary response that things that are good for us get recognised by one bit of the brain which makes certain chemicals get released in a different bit of the brain or something. And the things that are bad for us but feel good - maybe it's just tough for the brain to work out what's good for us or not, or with drinking or getting stoned or whatever the chemicals you ingest mimic certain brain activities. Like cannabinoid molecules look like the "release seratonin" message or I don't bloody know do I

― beanz (beanz), Thursday, 11 November 2004 16:40 (twenty years ago)

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