“Quit laughing, this is serious!” is a common refrain.  After all, there’s not much funnier than the misery of others, hence the popularity of the April Fool’s Joke after several thousand years.   However, to people like Robert Provine of the University of Maryland Baltimore County, the saying is more like, “Keep laughing, this is serious!” He’s one of the country’s leading researchers into laughter, and he seeks to unlock the key to laughter.

“Laughter above all else is a social thing,” said Dr. Provine.  “The requirement for laughter is another person. … All language groups laugh `ha-ha-ha’ basically the same way.  Whether you speak Mandarin, French or English, everyone will understand laughter. … There’s a pattern generator in our brain that produces this sound.”

Humans aren’t the only animals that laugh.  Our primate brothers and sisters laugh, and even rats love to be tickled.  Laughter in rats releases antistress hormones that indirectly serve as health benefits.  Studies on humans may yield more potent antidepressants and antianxiety medication.

Tags: health news, laughter is the best medicine, laughter studies, study of laughing, why we laugh, Robert Provine, laughing, University of Maryland Baltimore County, health benefits of laughter, laughing as stress relief

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