Laughter is an audible expression or the appearance of happiness Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources, or an inward feeling of joy (laughing on the inside). It may ensue (as a physiological Physiology is the science of the functioning of living systems. It is a subcategory of biology. In physiology, the scientific method is applied to determine how organisms, organ systems, organs, cells and biomolecules carry out the chemical or physical function that they have in a living system. The word physiology is from Ancient Greek: φύσις reaction) from jokes A joke is a short story or ironic depiction of a situation communicated with the intent of being humorous. These jokes will normally have a punchline that will end the sentence to make it humorous. A joke can also be a single phrase or statement that employs sarcasm, tickling Tickling is the act of touching a part of the body so as to cause involuntary twitching movements or laughter. The word "tickle" evolved from the Middle English tikelen, perhaps frequentative of ticken, to touch lightly. The idiom tickled pink means to be pleased or delighted or other stimuli. It is in most cases a very pleasant sensation.

Laughter is found among various animals Laughter in animals other than humans describes animal behavior which resembles human laughter, as well as in humans. Among the human species, it is a part of human behavior Human behavior is the population of behaviors exhibited by humans and influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority, rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics regulated by the brain The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as jellyfish and starfish have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all. In vertebrates, the brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction In social science, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two , three (i.e. a triad) or more individuals (e.g. a social group). Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social scientists and providing an emotional context to conversations. Laughter is used as a signal for being part of a group — it signals acceptance and positive interactions with others. Laughter is sometimes seemingly contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback Positive feedback, sometimes referred to as "cumulative causation", refers to situations where some effect causes more of itself. Under strong positive feedback, most systems quickly move to a limit state, where the limit is provided by external factors, or into some other new stable state where the positive feedback is somehow negated.^[1] This may account in part for the popularity of laugh tracks A laugh track, laughter soundtrack, laughter track, LFN , laugh in a can or a laughing audience is a separate soundtrack invented by Charles "Charley" Douglass, with the artificial sound of audience laughter, made to be inserted into TV comedy shows and sitcoms. The first American television show to incorporate a laugh track was the in situation comedy A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features recurring characters in a common environment such as a home or workplace. A situation comedy may be recorded before a studio audience. Some also feature a laugh track. Such programs originated in radio. Today, sitcoms are found almost exclusively on television as one television shows.

Laughter is anatomically caused by the epiglottis constricting the larynx. The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called gelotology Gelotology is the study of laughter and its effects on the body, from a psychological and physiological perspective. Its proponents often advocate a somewhat invasive induction of laughter on therapeutic grounds.[citation needed] It also studies the medical abnormalities of laughing.[citation needed] The word is from the Greek gelos, geloto.

Nature of laughter

Laughter is an audible expression or appearance of excitement, an inward feeling of joy or humor (laughing on the inside). It may ensue (as a physiological reaction) from jokes A joke is a short story or ironic depiction of a situation communicated with the intent of being humorous. These jokes will normally have a punchline that will end the sentence to make it humorous. A joke can also be a single phrase or statement that employs sarcasm, tickling Tickling is the act of touching a part of the body so as to cause involuntary twitching movements or laughter. The word "tickle" evolved from the Middle English tikelen, perhaps frequentative of ticken, to touch lightly. The idiom tickled pink means to be pleased or delighted, and other stimuli. Strong laughter can sometimes bring an onset of tears or even moderate muscular pain. Recently researchers have shown infants as early as 17 days old have vocal laughing sounds or laughter. ^[2] This conflicts with earlier studies indicating that infants usually start to laugh at about four months of age. Robert R. Provine, Ph.D. has spent decades studying laughter. In his interview for WebMD, he indicated "Laughter is a mechanism everyone has; laughter is part of universal human vocabulary. There are thousands of languages, hundreds of thousands of dialects, but everyone speaks laughter in pretty much the same way.” Everyone can laugh. Babies have the ability to laugh before they ever speak. Children who are born blind and deaf still retain the ability to laugh.

Provine argues that “Laughter is primitive, an unconscious vocalization.” And if it seems you laugh more than others, Provine argues that it probably is genetic. In a study of the “Giggle Twins,” two exceptionally happy twins A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy were separated at birth and not reunited until 43 years later. Provine reports that “until they met each other, neither of these exceptionally happy ladies had known anyone who laughed as much as she did.” They reported this even though they both had been brought together by their adoptive parents, whom they indicated were “undemonstrative and dour.” Provine indicates that the twins “inherited some aspects of their laugh sound and pattern, readiness to laugh, and perhaps even taste in humor.” ^[3]

Norman Cousins Norman Cousins was an American political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate, who suffered from arthritis There are over 100 different forms of arthritis. The most common form, osteoarthritis is a result of trauma to the joint, infection of the joint, or age. Other arthritis forms are rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and autoimmune diseases in which the body attacks itself. Septic arthritis is caused by joint infection, developed a recovery program incorporating megadoses of Vitamin C, along with a positive attitude, love, faith, hope, and laughter induced by Marx Brothers films. "I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep," he reported. "When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again and not infrequently, it would lead to another pain-free interval." He wrote about these experiences in several books.^[4][5]

Research has noted the similarity in forms of laughter among various primates A primate is a member of the biological order Primates (/praɪˈmeɪtiːz/ prī·mā′·tēz; Latin: "prime, first rank"), the group that contains prosimians (including lemurs, lorises, galagos and tarsiers ) and simians (monkeys and apes). With the exception of humans, who inhabit every continent on Earth,[a] most primates live in (humans, gorillas Gorillas are the largest of the living primates. They are ground-dwelling and predominantly herbivorous. They inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies. The DNA of gorillas is 98%–99% identical to that of a human, and they are the next closest living relatives to humans after, orang-utans The orangutans are the only exclusively Asian living genus of great ape. They are the largest living arboreal animals. They have longer arms than other great apes, and their hair is typically reddish-brown, instead of the brown or black hair typical of other great apes. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, they are currently found only in rainforests...), suggesting that laughter derives from a common origin among primate species, and has subsequently evolved Evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms through successive generations. After a population splits into smaller groups, these groups evolve independently and may eventually diversify into new species. Ultimately, life is descended from a common ancestory through a long series of these speciation events, in each species.^[6]

A very rare neurological condition has been observed whereby the sufferer is unable to laugh out loud, a condition known as aphonogelia.^[7]

Laughter and the brain

Modern neurophysiology Neurophysiology is a part of physiology. Neurophysiology is the study of nervous system function. Primarily, it is connected with neurobiology, psychology, neurology, clinical neurophysiology, electrophysiology, biophysical neurophysiology, ethology, neuroanatomy, cognitive science and other brain sciences states that laughter is linked with the activation of the ventromedial The ventromedial prefrontal cortex is a part of the prefrontal cortex in the mammalian brain. The ventral medial prefrontal is located in the frontal lobe and is implicated in the processing of risk and fear, and in decision making prefrontal cortex The prefrontal cortex is the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain, lying in front of the motor and premotor areas, which produces endorphins Endorphins are endogenous opioid peptides that function as neurotransmitters. They are produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus in vertebrates during exercise, excitement, pain, consumption of spicy food and orgasm, and they resemble the opiates in their abilities to produce analgesia and a feeling of well-being after a rewarding activity.

Research has shown that parts of the limbic system The limbic system is a set of brain structures including the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior thalamic nuclei, and limbic cortex, which suggestively support a variety of functions including emotion, behavior, long term memory, and olfaction. The term "limbic" comes from the Latin limbus, for "border" or "edge". Some are involved in laughter^{[citation needed]}. The limbic system is a primitive part of the brain The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate, and most invertebrate, animals. Some primitive animals such as jellyfish and starfish have a decentralized nervous system without a brain, while sponges lack any nervous system at all. In vertebrates, the brain is located in the head, protected by the skull and close to the primary that is involved in emotions and helps us with basic functions necessary for survival. Two structures in the limbic system are involved in producing laughter: the amygdala The amygdalae are almond-shaped groups of nuclei located deep within the medial temporal lobes of the brain in complex vertebrates, including humans. Shown in research to perform a primary role in the processing and memory of emotional reactions, the amygdalae are considered part of the limbic system. and the hippocampus The hippocampus is a major component of the brains of humans and other mammals. It belongs to the limbic system and plays important roles in long-term memory and spatial navigation. Like the cerebral cortex, with which it is closely associated, it is a paired structure, with mirror-image halves in the left and right sides of the brain. In humans^{[citation needed]}.

The December 7, 1984 Journal of the American Medical Association The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of physicians and medical students in the United States describes the neurological causes of laughter as follows:

"Although there is no known 'laugh center' in the brain, its neural mechanism has been the subject of much, albeit inconclusive, speculation. It is evident that its expression depends on neural paths arising in close association with the telencephalic The cerebrum or telencephalon, together with the diencephalon, constitute the forebrain. It is the most anterior or, especially in humans, most superior region of the vertebrate central nervous system. "Telencephalon" refers to the embryonic structure, from which the mature "cerebrum" develops. The dorsal telencephalon, or and diencephalic The diencephalon is the region of the brain that includes the thalamus, metathalamus, hypothalamus, epithalamus, prethalamus or subthalamus and pretectum. The diencephalon and the telencephalon both derive from the prosencephalon (forebrain). The diencephalon is located near the midline of the brain, above the mesencephalon (midbrain) centers concerned with respiration In physiology, respiration is defined as the transport of oxygen from the outside air to the cells within tissues, and the transport of carbon dioxide in the opposite direction. This is in contrast to the biochemical definition of respiration, which refers to cellular respiration: the metabolic process by which an organism obtains energy by. Wilson considered the mechanism to be in the region of the mesial thalamus, hypothalamus The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that contains a number of small nuclei with a variety of functions. One of the most important functions of the hypothalamus is to link the nervous system to the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and subthalamus During development the subthalamus is continuous with the hypothalamus, but is separated by white matter fibres mainly from the internal capsule. Caudally, the subthalamus or prethalamus is separated from the thalamus by the zona limitans intrathalamica. Other nuclei of the subthalamus are the zona incerta, thalamic reticular nucleus, and the. Kelly and co-workers, in turn, postulated that the tegmentum The tegmentum is a general area within the brainstem. It is located between the ventricular system and distinctive basal or ventral structures at each level. It forms the floor of the midbrain whereas the tectum forms the ceiling. It is a multisynaptic network of neurons that is involved in many unconscious homeostatic and reflexive pathways near the periaqueductal grey Periaqueductal gray is the gray matter located around the cerebral aqueduct within the tegmentum of the midbrain. It plays a role in the descending modulation of pain and in defensive behaviour. The ascending pain and temperature fibers of the spinothalamic tract also send information to the PAG via the spinomesencephalic tract (so-named because contains the integrating mechanism for emotional expression. Thus, supranuclear pathways, including those from the limbic system The limbic system is a set of brain structures including the hippocampus, amygdala, anterior thalamic nuclei, and limbic cortex, which suggestively support a variety of functions including emotion, behavior, long term memory, and olfaction. The term "limbic" comes from the Latin limbus, for "border" or "edge". Some that Papez hypothesised to mediate emotional expressions such as laughter, probably come into synaptic In the nervous system, a synapse is a structure that permits a neuron to pass an electrical or chemical signal to another cell. The word "synapse" comes from "synaptein", which Sir Charles Scott Sherrington and colleagues coined from the Greek "syn-" and "haptein" ("to clasp") relation in the reticular core of the brain stem. So while purely emotional responses such as laughter are mediated by subcortical structures, especially the hypothalamus, and are stereotyped, the cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex is a sheet of neural tissue that is outermost to the cerebrum of the mammalian brain. It plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. It is constituted of up to six horizontal layers, each of which has a different composition in terms of neurons and connectivity. The human can modulate or suppress them."

Laughter and health

A positive link between laughter and healthy function of blood vessels was first reported in 2005 by researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Center with laughter causing the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium The endothelium is the thin layer of cells that line the interior surface of blood vessels, forming an interface between circulating blood in the lumen and the rest of the vessel wall. These cells are called endothelial cells. Endothelial cells line the entire circulatory system, from the heart to the smallest capillary. These cells reduce, to dilate or expand such to increase blood flow.^[8]. Drs. Michael Miller (University of Maryland) and William Fry (Stanford), theorize that beta-endorphin like compounds released by the hypothalamus activate receptors on the endothelial surface to release nitric oxide, thereby resulting in dilation of vessels. Other cardioprotective properties of nitric oxide include reduction of inflammation and decreased platelet aggregation.^[9]. The association between laughter and endothelial dilation was recently confirmed by other investigators.^[10]

Causes

Common causes for laughter are sensations of joy Happiness is a state of mind or feeling characterized by contentment, love, satisfaction, pleasure, or joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources and humor Humour or humor is the tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Greek: χυμός, chymos, literally juice or sap, metaphorically, flavour), control human, however other situations may cause laughter as well.

A general theory that explains laughter is called the relief theory. Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud (6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939), was an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic method of psychiatry. Freud is best known for his theories of the unconscious mind and the defense mechanism of repression, and for creating the clinical practice of psychoanalysis for treating psychopathology summarized it in his theory that laughter releases tension and "psychic energy". This theory is one of the justifications of the beliefs that laughter is beneficial for one's health.^[11] This theory explains why laughter can be as a coping mechanism A coping skill is a behavioral tool which may be used by individuals to offset or overcome adversity, disadvantage, or disability without correcting or eliminating the underlying condition for when one is upset, angry Anger is an emotion. The physical effects of anger include increased heart rate, blood pressure, and levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline. Some view anger as part of the fight or flight brain response to the perceived threat of harm. Anger becomes the predominant feeling behaviorally, cognitively, and physiologically when a person makes the or sad Sadness is an emotion characterized by feelings of disadvantage, loss, and helplessness. When sad, people often become quiet, less energetic, and withdrawn.

Philosopher Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It is distinguished from other ways of addressing fundamental questions by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word "philosophy" comes from the John Morreall theorizes that human laughter may have its biological origins as a kind of shared expression of relief at the passing of danger. Friedrich Nietzsche, by contrast, suggested laughter to be a reaction to the sense of existential loneliness and mortality that only humans feel.

For example, this is how this theory works in the case of humor: a joke creates an inconsistency, the sentence appears to be not relevant, and we automatically try to understand what the sentence says, supposes, doesn't say, and implies; if we are successful in solving this 'cognitive riddle', and we find out what is hidden within the sentence, and what is the underlying thought, and we bring foreground what was in the background, and we realize that the surprise wasn't dangerous, we eventually laugh with relief. Otherwise, if the inconsistency is not resolved, there is no laugh, as Mack Sennett pointed out: "when the audience is confused, it doesn't laugh" (this is the one of the basic laws of a comedian, called "exactness"). It is important to note that the inconsistency may be resolved, and there may still be no laugh. Due to the fact that laughter is a social mechanism, we may not feel like we are in danger, however, the physical act of laughing may not take place. In addition, the extent of the inconsistency (timing, rhythm, etc.) has to do with the amount of danger we feel, and thus how hard or long we laugh. This explanation is also confirmed by modern neurophysiology (see section Laughter and the brain).

It has also been shown that laughter is highly contagious, as shown in one case where schools in an area were closed for six months as a result of a massive laughter epidemic.^[12]

Gallery

See also

• Death from laughter
• Evil laugh
• Gelotology
• Laughter in animals
• Laughter in Literature
• Laughter Yoga
• Nervous laughter
• Paradoxical laughter
• Pathological laughing and crying

References

1. ^ Camazine, Deneubourg, Franks, Sneyd, Theraulaz, Bonabeau, Self-Organization in Biological Systems, Princeton University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-691-11624-5 --ISBN 0-691-01211-3 (pbk.) p. 18
2. ^ http://www.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ai/papers/ref3/kawakami2006.pdf
3. ^ http://www.webmd.com/content/Article/53/61405.htm WebMD 2002
4. ^ Cousins, Norman, The Healing Heart : Antidotes to Panic and Helplessness, New York : Norton, 1983. ISBN 0-393-01816-4
5. ^ Cousins, Norman, Anatomy of an illness as perceived by the patient : reflections on healing and regeneration, introd. by René Dubos, New York : Norton, 1979. ISBN 0-393-01252-2
6. ^ "Tickled apes yield laughter clue", News.BBC.co.uk, June 4, 2009
7. ^ Archneurpsyc.ama-assn.org
8. ^ Miller M, Mangano C, Park Y, Goel R, Plotnick GD, Vogel RA.(2006). Impact of cinematic viewing on endothelial function.Heart.Feb;92(2):261-2.PMID
9. ^ Miller M, Fry W.(2009).Medical Hypothesis.Nov;73(5):636-9.PMID
10. ^ Vlachopoulos C, Xaplanteris P, Alexopoulos N, Aznaouridis K, Vasiliadou C, Baou K, Stefanadi E, Stefanadis C. (2009). Divergent effects of laughter and mental stress on arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics. Psychosom Med. May;71(4):446-53.PMID 19251872
11. ^ M.P. Mulder, A. Nijholt (2002) "Humor Research: State of the Art", citeseer.ist.psu.edu
12. ^ http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Provine_96.html

Further reading

• Bachorowski, J.-A., Smoski, M.J., & Owren, M.J. The acoustic features of human laughter. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 110 (1581) 2001
• Bakhtin, Mikhail (1941). Rabelais and His World. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
• Chapman, Antony J.; Foot, Hugh C.; Derks, Peter (editors), Humor and Laughter: Theory, Research, and Applications, Transaction Publishers, 1996. ISBN 1-56000-837-7. Books.google.com
• Cousins, Norman, Anatomy of an Illness As Perceived by the Patient, 1979.
• Fried, I., Wilson, C.L., MacDonald, K.A., and Behnke EJ. Electric current stimulates laughter. Nature, 391:650, 1998 (see patient AK)
• Goel, V. & Dolan, R. J. The functional anatomy of humor: segregating cognitive and affective components. Nature Neuroscience 3, 237 - 238 (2001).
• Greig, John Young Thomson, The Psychology of Comedy and Laughter, New York, Dodd, Mead and company, 1923.
• Marteinson, Peter, On the Problem of the Comic: A Philosophical Study on the Origins of Laughter, Legas Press, Ottawa, 2006. utoronto.ca
• Miller M, Mangano C, Park Y, Goel R, Plotnick GD, Vogel RA.Impact of cinematic viewing on endothelial function.Heart. 2006 Feb;92(2):261-2.
• Provine, R. R., Laughter. American Scientist, V84, 38:45, 1996. ucla.edu
• Quentin Skinner (2004) (pdf). Hobbes and the Classical Theory of Laughter. http://www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-926461-9.pdf. Retrieved 2006-10-23. included in book: Sorell, Tom; Luc Foisneau (2004). "6". Leviathan After 350 Years. Oxford University Press. pp. 139–66. ISBN 13: 978-0-19-926461-2 ISBN 10: 0-19-926461-9. http://www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-926461-9.pdf.
• Raskin, Victor, Semantic Mechanisms of Humor (1985).
• MacDonald, C., "A Chuckle a Day Keeps the Doctor Away: Therapeutic Humor & Laughter" Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services(2004) V42, 3:18-25. psychnurse.org
• Kawakami, K., et al., Origins of smile and laughter: A preliminary study Early Human Development (2006) 82, 61-66. kyoto-u.ac.jp
• Johnson, S., Emotions and the Brain Discover (2003) V24, N4. discover.com
• Panksepp, J., Burgdorf, J.,“Laughing” rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy? Physiology & Behavior (2003) 79:533-547. psych.umn.edu
• Milius, S., Don't look now, but is that dog laughing? Science News (2001) V160 4:55. sciencenews.org
• Simonet, P., et al., Dog Laughter: Recorded playback reduces stress related behavior in shelter dogs 7th International Conference on Environmental Enrichment (2005). petalk.org
• Discover Health (2004) Humor & Laughter: Health Benefits and Online Sources, helpguide.org
• Klein, A. The Courage to Laugh: Humor, Hope and Healing in the Face of Death and Dying. Los Angeles, CA: Tarcher/Putman, 1998.
• Ron Jenkins Subversive laughter (New York, Free Press, 1994), 13ff
• Bogard, M. Laughter and its Effects on Groups. New York, New York: Bullish Press, 2008.
• Humor Theory. The formulae of laughter by Igor Krichtafovitch, Outskitspress, 2006, ISBN 978-1-59800-222-5
• Hans-Georg Moeller und Günter Wohlfart (Hrsg.): Laughter in Eastern and Western Philosophies. Verlag Karl Alber, Freiburg / München 2010. ISBN 978-3-495-48385-5

External links

• The Origins of Laughter, chass.utoronto.ca
• Human laughter up to 16 million years old, cosmosmagazine.com
• Humor therapy for cancer patients, cancer.org
• Etymology of Gelotology, wordinfo.info
• More information about Gelotology from the University of Washington, faculty.washington.edu
• How Stuff Works - Laughter, howstuffworks.com
• LaughterYoga.org
• Listentolaughter.com
• Formulae of laughter, lebed.com
• WNYC's Radio Lab radio show: Is Laughter just a Human Thing?, wnyc.org
• Medical Benefits of Laughter, youtube.com

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