News tagged with laughter
To scientists, laughter is no joke -- it's serious
(AP) -- So a scientist walks into a shopping mall to watch people laugh.
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Mar 31, 2010 |
4.7 / 5 (27) |
10
Laughter remains good medicine
The connection between the body, mind and spirit has been the subject of conventional scientific inquiry for some 20 years. The notion that psychosocial and societal considerations have a role in maintaining health and preventing ...
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Apr 17, 2009 |
5 / 5 (6) |
0
A Serious Question: Why Do We Laugh?
(PhysOrg.com) -- Not surprisingly, Robert Lynch begins his research paper "It's Funny Because We Think It's True: Laughter is Augmented by Implicit Preferences" with a joke. Not his joke, but one taken from a ...
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Oct 14, 2009 |
3.3 / 5 (8) |
3
Laughter is not just funny
(PhysOrg.com) -- Everybody enjoys a laugh but new research from an international team shows it's not as simple as you might think.
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Jul 19, 2010 |
3.7 / 5 (6) |
3
|
Reconstructing the evolution of laughter in great apes and humans
Like human infants, young apes are known to hoot and holler when you tickle them. But is it fair to say that those playful calls are really laughter? The answer to that question is yes, say researchers reporting ...
Jun 04, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
1
Laugh and apes laugh with you
(PhysOrg.com) -- Just like humans, chimpanzees mimic the laughter of their playmates even if they don't find the situation as 'funny'.
Mar 02, 2011 |
5 / 5 (3) |
2
|
Laughter Differs In Children With Autism
According to a recent paper entitled "Laughter Differs in Children with Autism: An Acoustic Analysis of Laughter Produced by Children with and without the Disorder" in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, childr ...
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Jul 10, 2009 |
4 / 5 (3) |
0
Everybody laughs, everybody cries: Researchers identify universal emotions
Here's a piece of research that might leave you tickled: laughter is a universal language, according to new research. The study, conducted with people from Britain and Namibia, suggests that basic emotions such as amusement, ...
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Jan 25, 2010 |
5 / 5 (2) |
3
|
Fear of being laughed at crosses cultural boundaries
Laughter is an emotional expression that is innate in human beings. This means laughing at others is also believed to be a universal phenomenon. However, the fear of being laughed at causes some people enormous ...
Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry
Oct 14, 2009 |
4 / 5 (2) |
0
It really may be the best medicine
Talk turned serious -- painfully so, at times -- during the two hours of group discussion.
May 15, 2009 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Laughter really is the best medicine (for leg ulcers)
Forget technology. The best prescription for patients with venous leg ulcers is good quality nursing care – and the occasional belly laugh!
Mar 08, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
Hyenas' laughter signals deciphered
Acoustic analysis of the 'giggle' sound made by spotted hyenas has revealed that the animals' laughter encodes information about age, dominance and identity. Researchers writing in the open access journal ...
Mar 29, 2010 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
Goose bumps, laughter and butterflies
The human body is as mysterious as it is magnificent. For every essential function like thought or a heartbeat, the body exhibits quirky behaviors that seem to defy explanation. Like goose bumps. Or hiccups. ...
Sep 14, 2009 |
1 / 5 (1) |
1
Laughter
Laughing is a reaction to certain stimuli, fundamentally stress, which serves as an emotional balancing mechanism. Traditionally, it is considered a visual expression of happiness, or an inward feeling of joy. It may ensue from hearing a joke, being tickled, or other stimuli. It is in most cases a very pleasant sensation.
Laughter is found among various animals, as well as in humans, although it is more rare in most mammals and animals overall. Among the human species, it is a part of human behavior regulated by the brain, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction 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 seen as contagious, and the laughter of one person can itself provoke laughter from others as a positive feedback. This may account in part for the popularity of laugh tracks in situation comedy 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.
For more information about Laughter, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
