We all know that
laughter happens when you are happy and that it can make you happy. Nothing too
ground breaking there however, gelatology, the scientific study of laughter,
has revealed that laughing is incredibly beneficial to the body.
When you laugh
there are three systems that are acting, the cognitive, motor and emotional
systems (1). The cognitive component perceives the stimuli, the humorous event.
Next the motor portion of your brain creates the changes in facial expression
that accompanies laughter. Finally your nucleus accumbens, the pleasure center
of the brain, perceives and rationalizes the happiness (2). These three systems
get their information from two pathways, the voluntary and the involuntary
pathway. The voluntary pathway starts out at the pre-motor opercular areas (part
of the inferior frontal gyrus), and then travels along the motor tract to the
ventral brain stem. The involuntary tract utilizes the big players in emotion: the
amygdala, thalamic, hypothalamic and sub thalamic areas and finally the dorsal
brain stem. Combined these two pathways provide your brain with the information
required to laugh (1).
Laughter has been
shown to have a wide range of benefits. A study done at the University of
Maryland discovered that people with myocardial infraction (a heart attack),
were 40% less likely to laugh. This by itself is not an overly impressive
finding however; they also found that laughter is important for preventing
myocardial infraction (3). Another study at the University of Maryland observed
that laughter had beneficial affects on blood vessels. While the exact
reasoning behind these events is not definite both are linked to a decrease in
stress (4). Stress breaks down nitric oxide, which is important for
vasodilation. Laughter prevents this break down, thus aiding in vasodilation, a
benefit for your blood vessels and heart (1). The study found that on average
laughter increased blood flow by twenty-two percent, and stress decreased blood
flow by thirty-five percent (4).
These findings open
up intriguing possibilities for the future. The idea of fighting disease with
humor is not as far fetched as it first sounds. It also strongly indicates that
we should seek humor out in our lives not just for mental, but also physical
well being.
References
1). Hasan, H., & Hasan,
T. (2009). Laugh yourself into a healthier person: a cross cultural analysis of
the effects of varying levels of laughter on health. International Journal Of Medical Sciences, 6, 200-211.
2). Ariniello L. Brain Briefings.
Humor, Laughter and the Brain. Washington: Society
for Neuroscience; 2001.
3). Vascular Medicine; Watching funny movies boosts blood flow to the
heart. Health & Medicine Week,1660.
Research Library database. (Document ID: 980266611); 2006.
4.) Miller, M., & Fry, W.
(2009). The effect of mirthful laughter on the human cardiovascular system. Medical Hypotheses, 73, 636-639.
doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2009.02.044
Matt,
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a topic that I think a lot of people should try to pay more attention to. Laughter is a great way to keep a positive attitude and I feel like the more you laugh, the easier it is to stay motivated. This led me to do a little research around that topic to see if motivation and laughter actually have any sort of correlation. One would think that if you laugh more often, you might be “happier” and, as such, be a much more motivated person. Personally, I feel like the more I laugh, or at least try to get myself to enjoy something, the more relaxed I feel and then it’s easier to stay motivated or get motivated to do something. It is shown that humor can increase learning by making the material more attractive to the learners (Tony, 2011). Furthermore, laughter causes physiological and social responses that can change and promote a more positive state in people (Keltner & Bonnano, 1997). However, there still has yet to be a substantial amount of research done on the exact relationship between laughter and cognitive responses. Perhaps we’ve discovered a new area to study?
References:
Keltner D, Bonanno GA. “A study of laughter and dissociation: distinct correlates of laughter and smiling during bereavement.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 73(4): 687-702. 1997.
Trunfio, T. “Navigate by the Smiles.” Journal of School Health. 81(1): 53-54. 2011.
Hi Matt,
ReplyDeleteWe often do hear that "laughter is the best medicine." They also say that people going through recovery who have positive outlooks heal faster than those who are more pessimistic or sad. I remember seeing on the news a few years back that a certain rehabilitation center for seniors often brought in stress-relief dogs for their patients to play with. This boosted morale and seemed to decrease healing time. I suspect the mechanism isn't too far off from laughter, feeling good feels good - and that goes a long way in us humans. Biologically, I can't help but wonder if there is some kind of endorphin release associated with laughter and if this has anything to do with decreasing stress hormones.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting blog. I noticed that you took a positive focus on laughter and its benefits to the human mind and boy, which actually led me to wonder if there were any consequences of laughing or laughing disorders.
After doing some research, I found that there is a disorder called Pathological Laughing and Crying (PLC) that causes victims to break out in incontrollable laughter or tears for no apparent reason, even when they find no humor or sadness attached to the situation. Although there is a lack of evidence to strongly conclude that a specific area of the brain causes this disorder, there have been many studies that show that victims of PLC suffer from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a cerebral and spinal nerve cells disease. It also appears that victims, although not as many as those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, of stroke, traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease also suffer from Pathological Laughter and Crying (Gupta et al. 2007). Since there is a deficiency in knowledge pertaining to this specific disorder, there is no concrete treatments for patients to decrease, or even, terminate this disorder. However, it is found that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, tricyclic antidepressants, and dextromethorphan can help to reduce this disorder.
Gupta A, Aggarwal KM, Rastogi RM. April 2007. Pathological laughter and crying. Delhi Psychiatry Journal10(1): 26-31.
Matt,
ReplyDeleteI’m so glad you wrote about laughter! I have a friend that was diagnosed with a terminal, idiopathic interstitial lung disease in 2005. His pulmonologist gave him 6 months to live. Despite the grim outlook, here we are in 2013, and he is still alive. Why? He would tell you that it’s because he is at peace with his prognosis. For him, part of that peace is not fighting the disease - it’s accepting the diagnosis and maintaining a sense of humor. Granted I don’t have any objective data to affirm this in his case, but I do think this is one of the many things attributable to laughter.