View source for Laughter

{{Short description|Expression of amusement}}
{{Redirect|Snicker|the candy|Snickers}}
{{Redirect-several|Laughter|Laugh|Laughing|Giggle}}
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[[File:Laughing boy at golden hour.jpg|thumb|A [[child]] in [[Laos]] laughing|upright=.97]]
[[File:Laughter_and_clearing_voice.ogg|Audio of a woman laughing|thumb|right|upright=.97]]

'''Laughter''' is a typically [[Pleasure|pleasant]] physical reaction and emotion consisting usually of rhythmical, usually audible contractions of the [[Thoracic diaphragm|diaphragm]] and other parts of the respiratory system. It is a response to certain external or internal [[Stimulus (psychology)|stimuli]]. Laughter can rise from such activities as being [[tickling|tickled]],<ref>{{cite book |title= Laughing: Physiology, Pathology, Psychology, Pathopsychology and Development |first= Frederic Rudolph |last= Stearns |year= 1972 |pages= [https://archive.org/details/parentsguidetoch00some/page/59 59–65] |isbn= 978-0-398-02420-8 |url= https://archive.org/details/parentsguidetoch00some/page/59 |publisher= Springfield, Ill., Thomas }}</ref> or from [[humor]]ous stories, [[image]]ry, [[video]]s or thoughts.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Shultz | first1 = T. R. | last2 = Horibe | first2 = F. | year = 1974 | title = Development of the appreciation of verbal jokes | journal = Developmental Psychology | volume = 10 | pages = 13–20 | doi=10.1037/h0035549}}</ref> Most commonly, it is considered an auditory expression of a number of positive emotional states, such as joy, mirth, [[happiness]] or relief. On some occasions, however, it may be caused by contrary emotional states such as embarrassment, surprise, or confusion such as [[Nervous laughter|nervous laughter or courtesy laugh]]. Age, gender, education, language and culture are all indicators<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Olmwake | first1 = Louise | year = 1937| title = A study of sense of humor: Its relation to sex, age and personal characteristics | journal = Journal of Applied Psychology | volume = 45 | issue = 6| pages = 688–704 | doi=10.1037/h0055199}}</ref> as to whether a person will experience laughter in a given situation. Other than humans, some other species of [[primate]] ([[chimpanzee]]s, [[gorilla]]s and [[orangutan]]s) show [[Laughter in animals|laughter-like vocalizations]] in response to physical contact such as wrestling, play chasing or tickling.

Laughter is a part of [[human behavior]] regulated by the [[Human brain|brain]], helping [[human]]s 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]].<ref>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.</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |last=Blumer
 |first=Herbert
 |date=1998
 |orig-date=1969
 |chapter=Society as Symbolic Interaction
 |title=Symbolic Interactionism: Perspective and Method
 |location=Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA
 |publisher=University of California Press
 |page=84
 |isbn=978-0-520-05676-3
 |quote=group action is the collective action of such individuals ['who fit their respective lines of action to one another through the process of interpretation']...the individuals composing...the group become 'carriers,' or media for the expression of such forces; and the interpretative behavior by means of which people form their actions is merely a coerced link in the play of such forces.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |last=Durkheim
 |first=Émile
 |translator-last1=Spaulding
 |translator-first1=John A.
 |translator-last2=Simpson
 |translator-first2=George
 |date=1979
 |orig-date=1951
 |chapter=Imitation
 |title=[[Suicide (Durkheim book)|Suicide: A Study in Sociology]]
 |trans-title=Étude de sociologie
 |location=New York, NY
 |publisher=THE FREE PRESS
 |pages= 125, 129
 |isbn=978-0-684-83632-4
 |quote=Thus we yawn, laugh, weep, because we see someone yawn, laugh or weep...The name of imitation must then be reserved solely for such facts if it is to have clear meaning, and we shall say: ''Imitation exists when the immediate antecedent of an act is the representation of a like act, previously performed by someone else; with no explicit or implicit mental operation which bears upon the intrinsic nature of the act reproduced intervening between representation and execution.''}}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 |last=Bergson
 |first=Henri
 |translator-last1=Brereton L. ES L., M.A.
 |translator-first1=Cloudesley
 |translator-last2=Rothwell B.A.
 |translator-first2=Fred
 |date=26 July 2009
 |orig-date=1900
 |chapter=The Comic in General—The Comic Element in Forms and Movements—Expansive Force of the Comic
 |title= Laughter: an Essay on the Meaning of the Comic
 |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4352/4352-h/4352-h.htm
 |publisher=Project Gutenberg
 |quote= Laughter appears to stand in need of an echo, Listen to it carefully: it is not an articulate, clear, well-defined sound; it is something which would fain be prolonged by reverberating from one to another, something beginning with a crash, to continue in successive rumblings, like thunder in a mountain. Still, this reverberation cannot go on for ever. It can travel within as wide a circle as you please: the circle remains, none the less, a closed one.}}</ref>

The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called [[gelotology]].

== Nature ==
[[File:Human–canine friendship - smiling girl hugging her dog at golden hour in Laos.jpg|thumb|150 px|right|A young girl from [[Laos]] laughing while hugging her [[dog]]]]
Laughter might be thought of as an audible expression or appearance of excitement, an inward feeling of joy and happiness. It may ensue from [[joke]]s, [[tickling]], and other stimuli completely unrelated to psychological state, such as [[nitrous oxide]]. One group of researchers speculated that noises from infants as early as 16 days old may be vocal laughing sounds or laughter.<ref>{{cite journal | url=http://www.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ai/papers/ref3/kawakami2006.pdf | doi=10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2005.07.011 | pmid=16185829 | volume=82 | issue=1 | title=Origins of smile and laughter: A preliminary study | journal=[[Early Human Development]] | pages=61–66 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928222941/http://www.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ai/papers/ref3/kawakami2006.pdf | archive-date=2011-09-28 | year=2006 | last1=Kawakami | first1=Kiyobumi | last2=Takai-Kawakami | first2=Kiyoko | last3=Tomonaga | first3=Masaki | last4=Suzuki | first4=Juri | last5=Kusaka | first5=Tomiyo | last6=Okai | first6=Takashi }}</ref> However, the weight of the evidence supports the appearance of such sounds at 15 weeks to four months of age.

[[Laughter research]]er {{Interlanguage link multi|Robert Provine|es}} said: "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." Babies have the ability to laugh before they ever speak. Children who are born blind and deaf still retain the ability to laugh.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gervais | first1 = Matthew | last2 = Sloan Wilson | first2 = David | year = 2005 | title = The Evolution and Functions of Laughter and Humor: A Synthetic Approach | journal = [[Quarterly Review of Biology]] | volume = 80 | issue = 4| pages = 395–430 | doi=10.1086/498281| pmid = 16519138 | s2cid = 22275729 }}</ref>

Provine argues that "Laughter is primitive, an unconscious vocalization." Provine argues that it probably is genetic. In a study of the "Giggle Twins", two happy [[twin]]s who were separated at birth and only reunited 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 they did." They reported this even though they had been brought together by their adoptive parents, who they indicated were "undemonstrative and dour". He indicates that the twins "inherited some aspects of their laugh sound and pattern, readiness to laugh, and maybe even taste in humor".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://men.webmd.com/features/why-do-we-laugh |title=WebMD 2002 |publisher=Men.webmd.com |access-date=2011-12-26 |archive-date=2011-12-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111222093933/http://men.webmd.com/features/why-do-we-laugh }}</ref>

Scientists have noted the similarity in forms of laughter induced by tickling among various [[primate]]s, which suggests that laughter derives from a common origin among primate species.<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8083230.stm "Tickled apes yield laughter clue"], News.BBC.co.uk, June 4, 2009.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/j.cub.2009.05.028 | pmid=19500987 | volume=19 | issue=13 | title=Reconstructing the Evolution of Laughter in Great Apes and Humans | journal=[[Current Biology]] | pages=1106–1111| year=2009 | last1=Davila Ross | first1=Marina | last2=j Owren | first2=Michael | last3=Zimmermann | first3=Elke | s2cid=17892549 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2009CBio...19.1106D }}</ref>

The [[spotted hyena]], another species of animal, was also known as the laughing hyena because of the way it sounds when it communicates.

A very rare neurological condition has been observed whereby the sufferer is unable to laugh out loud, a condition known as [[aphonogelia]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1001/archneurpsyc.1931.02230010169012 |date=1930-07-16 |journal=[[Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry]] |volume=25 |issue=1 |page=157 |first=Max |last=Levin|title=Inability to Laugh Audibly: Aphonogelia }}</ref>

== Brain ==
[[File:Laughing_woman.jpg|thumb|A woman laughing]]
[[File:Laughing Nyahsa GalawebDesign.jpg|thumb|A man laughing]]

[[Neurophysiology]] indicates that laughter is linked with the activation of the [[ventromedial prefrontal cortex]], that produces [[endorphin]]s.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/14/science/14laughter.html Why Laughter Feels So Good] 13 September 2011 ''[[New York Times]]'' science section.</ref> Scientists have shown that parts of the [[limbic system]] are involved in laughter. This system is involved in emotions and helps us with functions necessary for humans' survival. The structures in the limbic system that are involved in laughter are the [[hippocampus]] and the [[amygdala]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n13/mente/laughter/page3.html|title=laughter|first=Silvia Helena|last=Cardoso|website=www.cerebromente.org.br}}</ref>

The December 7, 1984, ''[[Journal of the American Medical Association]]'' 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 [[telencephalon|telencephalic]] and [[diencephalon|diencephalic]] centers concerned with [[Respiration (physiology)|respiration]]. Wilson considered the mechanism to be in the region of the mesial thalamus, [[hypothalamus]], and [[subthalamus]]. Kelly and co-workers, in turn, postulated that the [[tegmentum]] near the [[periaqueductal grey]] contains the integrating mechanism for emotional expression. Thus, supranuclear pathways, including those from the limbic system that Papez hypothesised to mediate emotional expressions such as laughter, probably come into [[synapse|synaptic]] 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]] can modulate or suppress them."

Some drugs are well known for their laughter-facilitating properties (e. g. [[ethanol]] and [[cannabis]]), while the others, like [[salvinorin A]] (the active ingredient of ''[[Salvia divinorum]]''), can even induce bursts of uncontrollable laughter.<ref>{{cite book | last = Turner | first = D.M. | author-link = D. M. Turner | title = Salvinorin—The Psychedelic Essence of Salvia Divinorum | url = http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/salvinorin/salvinorin.shtml | chapter = Effects and Experiences | chapter-url = http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/salvinorin/fx.shtml | access-date = 2007-05-20 |date=August 1996 | publisher = Panther Press | location = San Francisco, CA | isbn = 978-0-9642636-2-8}}</ref>

A research article was published December 1, 2000, on the psycho-evolution of laughter (Panksepp 2000).<ref>Jaak Panksepp - [http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8721.00090 The Riddle of Laughter - Neural and Psychoevolutionary Underpinnings of Joy] December 1, 2000 [[Sage Journals]] Accessed October 28th, 2017</ref>

== Health ==
A link between laughter and healthy function of blood vessels was first reported in 2005 by researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Center with the fact that laughter causes the dilatation of the inner lining of blood vessels, the [[endothelium]], and increases blood flow.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Miller | first1 = M | last2 = Mangano | first2 = C | last3 = Park | first3 = Y | last4 = Goel | first4 = R | last5 = Plotnick | first5 = GD | last6 = Vogel | first6 = RA | year = 2005 | title = Impact of cinematic viewing on endothelial function | journal = Heart | volume = 92 | issue = 2| pages = 261–2 | doi=10.1136/hrt.2005.061424| pmid = 16415199 | pmc = 1860773 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Vlachopoulos | first1 = C | last2 = Xaplanteris | first2 = P | last3 = Alexopoulos | first3 = N | last4 = Aznaouridis | first4 = K | last5 = Vasiliadou | first5 = C | last6 = Baou | first6 = K | last7 = Stefanadi | first7 = E | last8 = Stefanadis | first8 = C | year = 2009 | title = Divergent effects of laughter and mental stress on arterial stiffness and central hemodynamics | journal = [[Psychosom. Med.]] | volume = 71 | issue = 4| pages = 446–53 | doi = 10.1097/PSY.0b013e318198dcd4 | pmid = 19251872 | s2cid = 36768384 }}</ref>

Laughter has various proven beneficial biochemical effects. It has been shown to lead to reductions in stress hormones such as [[cortisol]] and [[epinephrine]]. When laughing, the brain releases [[endorphins]] that can relieve some physical pain.<ref name="DunbarBaron2011">{{cite journal|last1=Dunbar|first1=R. I. M.|last2=Baron|first2=R.|last3=Frangou|first3=A.|last4=Pearce|first4=E.|last5=van Leeuwen|first5=E. J. C.|last6=Stow|first6=J.|last7=Partridge|first7=G.|last8=MacDonald|first8=I.|last9=Barra|first9=V.|last10=van Vugt|first10=M.|title=Social laughter is correlated with an elevated pain threshold|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=279|issue=1731|year=2011|pages=1161–1167|issn=0962-8452|doi=10.1098/rspb.2011.1373|pmid=21920973|pmc=3267132}}</ref> Laughter also boosts the number of antibody-producing cells and enhances the effectiveness of T-cells, leading to a stronger immune system.<ref name="Smith Lee" /> A 2000 study found that people with heart disease were 40 percent less likely to laugh and be able to recognize humor in a variety of situations, compared to people of the same age without heart disease.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://umm.edu/news-and-events/news-releases/2000/laughter-is-good-for-your-heart-according-to-a-new-ummc-study|title=Laughter is Good for Your Heart, According to a New UMMC Study|website=University of Maryland Medical Center|access-date=2014-11-04|archive-date=2017-09-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906231702/http://www.umm.edu/news-and-events/news-releases/2000/laughter-is-good-for-your-heart-according-to-a-new-ummc-study}}</ref>

Anecdotally, journalist and author [[Norman Cousins]] developed in 1964 a treatment program for his [[ankylosing spondylitis]] and [[collagen disease]] consisting of large doses of Vitamin C alongside laughter induced by comic films, including those of the [[Marx Brothers]]. "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."<ref>Cousins, Norman, ''The Healing Heart : Antidotes to Panic and Helplessness'', New York : Norton, 1983. {{ISBN|0-393-01816-4}}.</ref><ref>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}}.</ref>

== Communication ==

Laughter is often social and functional.  A number of studies using methods of [[conversation analysis]] and [[discourse analysis]] have documented the systematic workings of laughter, for example in casual conversations, interviews, meetings, and therapy sessions.<ref>Glenn, P., & Holt, E. (Eds) (2013). Studies of Laughter in Interaction. London: Bloomsbury.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cantarutti |first1=Marina |first2= Richard|last2= Ogden| first3= Pavel |last3 =Šturm |first4= Jürgen|last4= Trouvain|title=Laughing in interaction: How phonetic details can coordinate action sequences |journal=Proc. Disfluency in Spontaneous Speech (DiSS) Workshop |pages=38–42|year=2023 |doi=10.21437/DiSS.2023-8 }}</ref> By closely examining recorded interactions, researchers have created detailed transcripts that indicate not only the presence of laughter but also features of its production and placement.
 
[[File:En-social04-6m17s.wav|thumb|An example of overlapped laughter in American English conversation]]
These studies challenge several widely held assumptions about the nature of laughter. Contrary to notions that it is spontaneous and involuntary, research documents that laughter is sequentially organized and precisely placed relative to surrounding talk, and, in the common case of overlapped laughter, relative to the laughter bouts of the conversation partner. Far more than merely a response to humor, laughter often works to manage delicate and serious moments. More than simply an external behavior "caused" by an inner state, laughter is highly communicative and helps accomplish actions and regulate relationships.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/09/25/916997530/laughter-the-best-medicine|title=Laughter: The Best Medicine|website=NPR.org|date=September 28, 2020}}</ref>

== Causes ==
[[File:Laughter by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|upright|Laughter is a common response to [[tickling]].]]
{{See also|Theories of humor}}
Common causes for laughter are sensations of [[joy]] and [[humor]]; however, other situations may cause laughter as well.

A general theory that explains laughter is called the '''relief theory'''. [[Sigmund Freud]] 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.<ref name=mn2002>M.P. Mulder, A. Nijholt (2002) [https://web.archive.org/web/20041116165933/http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/580062.html "Humor Research: State of the Art"], citeseer.ist.psu.edu</ref> This theory explains why laughter can be used as a [[coping mechanism]] when one is upset, [[angry]] or [[sadness|sad]].

[[Philosopher]] [[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 [[Existentialism|existential]] loneliness and mortality that only humans feel.

For example: a [[joke]] creates an [[inconsistency]] and the audience automatically tries to understand what the inconsistency means; if they are successful in solving this 'cognitive [[riddle]]' and they realize that the [[Surprise factor|surprise]] was not dangerous, they [[Comic relief|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 one of the basic [[Joke#Rules|laws of a comedian]], referred to as "exactness". It is important to note that sometimes the inconsistency may be resolved and there may still be no laugh.{{citation needed|date=January 2013}} Because laughter is a social mechanism, an audience may not feel as if they are in danger, and the laugh may not occur. In addition, the extent of the inconsistency (and aspects of its timing and rhythm) has to do with the amount of danger the audience feels, and how hard or long they laugh.

Laughter can also be brought on by [[tickling]]. Although most people find it unpleasant, being tickled often causes heavy laughter, thought to be an (often uncontrollable) reflex of the body.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tomveatch.com/else/humor/paper/node33.html |title=Physiology of laughter and tickling |publisher=www.tomveatch.com |access-date=2010-08-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Robert R. Provine |url=http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Provine_96.html |title=Provine, Laughter |publisher=Cogweb.ucla.edu |date=1950-09-09 |access-date=2011-12-26}}</ref>

[[File:Hans von Aachen - Two Laughing Men (Self-portrait).jpg|thumb|upright|''Two laughing men'' by [[Hans von Aachen]], circa 1574]]

== Structure and anatomy ==
The forms of laughter are highly varied.  Many laughs consist of sequences of bursts, such as ha-ha-ha or ho-ho-ho-ho. In extended laughter, several such bouts (burst sequences) may occur, often interleaved with loud inhalations. Recent research has detailed aspects of the [[Phonetics|phonetic]] structure of laughter, especially as it occurs in interaction.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trouvain |first1=Juergen |title=The Phonetics of Laughter |date=2007 |publisher=Saarland University}}</ref> While produced using the same vocal tract anatomy as speech, the phonetics and [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosody]] of laughter differs from that of speech in many ways, such as usually having higher pitch.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ludusan, Bogdan, Marin Schröer, Petra Wagner |title=An acoustic-prosodic analysis of laughter types |journal=Proceedings, Speech Prosody |date=2024 |page=602-606 |doi=10.21437/SpeechProsody.2024-122 }}</ref>  Laughed speech is also common, as in the example at right. 

[[File:Utep-social-00-187s.wav|thumb|An illustration of laughing while speaking]]

Not every imaginable laugh actually occurs.  It is unnatural, and one is physically unable, to have a laugh structure of "ha-ho-ha-ho". The usual variations of a laugh most often occur in the first or final note in a sequence- therefore, "ho-ha-ha" or "ha-ha-ho" laughs are possible. Normal note durations with unusually long or short "inter-note intervals" do not happen due to the result of the limitations of our vocal cords. This basic structure allows one to recognize a laugh despite individual variants.<ref name="Provine">{{cite journal | last1 = Provine | first1 = R | year = 1996 | title = Laughter | journal = American Scientist | volume = 841 | pages = 38–47 }}</ref>

It has also been determined that eyes moisten during laughter as a reflex from the tear glands.<ref name="Smith Lee">Smith Lee, B. (1990). Humor relations for nurse managers. Nursing Management, 21, 86.</ref>

==Negative aspects==
Laughter is not always a pleasant experience and is associated with several negative phenomena. Excessive laughter can lead to [[cataplexy]], and unpleasant laughter spells, excessive elation, and fits of laughter can all be considered negative aspects of laughter. Unpleasant laughter spells, or "sham mirth", usually occur in people who have a neurological condition, including patients with [[pseudobulbar palsy]], [[multiple sclerosis]] and [[Parkinson's disease]]. These patients appear to be laughing out of amusement but report that they are feeling undesirable sensations "at the time of the punch line".

Excessive elation is a common symptom associated with [[bipolar disorder]] psychoses and [[mania]]/[[hypomania]]. Those with schizophrenic psychoses seem to experience the opposite—they do not understand humor or get any joy out of it. A fit describes an abnormal time when one cannot control the laughter or one's body, sometimes leading to seizures or a brief period of unconsciousness. Some believe that fits of laughter represent a form of [[epilepsy]].<ref>Fry, W. F. (1963). ''Sweet Madness: A Study of Humor''. Palo Alto, Ca: Pacific Books Publishers</ref>

==Therapy==
Laughter has been used as a [[therapy|therapeutic]] tool for many years because it is a natural form of medicine. Laughter is available to everyone and it provides benefits to a person's physical, emotional, and social well being. Some of the benefits of using laughter therapy are that it can relieve stress and relax the whole body.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Modulation of neuroimmune parameters during the eustress of humor-associated mirthful laughter|journal = Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine|date = 2001-03-01|issn = 1078-6791|pmid = 11253418|pages = 62–72, 74–76|volume = 7|issue = 2|first1 = L. S.|last1 = Berk|first2 = D. L.|last2 = Felten|first3 = S. A.|last3 = Tan|first4 = B. B.|last4 = Bittman|first5 = J.|last5 = Westengard}}</ref> It can also boost the immune system and release [[endorphins]] to relieve pain.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = The effect of mirthful laughter on stress and natural killer cell activity|journal = Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine|date = 2003-04-01|issn = 1078-6791|pmid = 12652882|pages = 38–45|volume = 9|issue = 2|first1 = Mary P.|last1 = Bennett|first2 = Janice M.|last2 = Zeller|first3 = Lisa|last3 = Rosenberg|first4 = Judith|last4 = McCann}}</ref> Additionally, laughter can help prevent [[heart disease]] by increasing blood flow and improving the function of blood vessels.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/MyHeartandStrokeNews/Humor-helps-your-heart-How_UCM_447039_Article.jsp|title=Humor helps your heart? How?|website=www.heart.org|language=en|access-date=2019-03-30}}</ref> Some of the emotional benefits include diminishing [[anxiety]] or fear, improving overall mood, and adding joy to one's life. Laughter is also known to reduce allergic reactions in a preliminary study related to [[dust mite allergy]] sufferers.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = EFfect of humor on allergen-induced wheal reactions|journal = JAMA|date = 2001-02-14|issn = 0098-7484|page = 738|volume = 285|issue = 6|doi = 10.1001/jama.285.6.738|pmid = 11176910|last1 = Kimata|first1 = H. | doi-broken-date=19 July 2025 }}</ref>

Laughter therapy also has some social benefits, such as strengthening relationships, improving teamwork and reducing conflicts, and making oneself more attractive to others. Therefore, whether a person is trying to cope with a terminal illness or just trying to manage their stress or anxiety levels, laughter therapy can be a significant enhancement to their life.<ref>"Laughter Therapy." Laughter Therapy: Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Cancer Treatment Centers of America, 1 January 2001. Web. accessed 28 February 2014.</ref><ref>Smith, Melinda, and Jeanne Segal. "Laughter Is the Best Medicine." ''The Health Benefits of Humor'', Helpguide.org, February 2014. Web. accessed 1 March 2014.</ref>

Ramon Mora-Ripoll in his study on ''The Therapeutic Value Of Laughter In Medicine,'' stated that laughter therapy is an inexpensive and simple tool that can be used in patient care.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Mora-Ripoll|first=R.|date=2010|title=The Therapeutic Value of Laughter in Medicine|journal=Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine|volume=16|issue=6|pages=56–64|pmid=21280463}}</ref> It is a tool that is only beneficial when experienced and shared. Care givers need to recognize the importance of laughter and possess the right attitude to pass it on. He went on to say that since this type of therapy is not widely practiced, health care providers will have to learn how to effectively use it. In another survey, researchers looked at how Occupational Therapists and other care givers viewed and used humor with patients as a means of therapy.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Leber, Vanoli|first=D. A., E. G.|date=March–April 2001|title=Therapeutic use of humor: occupational therapy clinicians perceptions and practices.|journal=American Journal of Occupational Therapy|volume=55|issue=2|pages=221–226|doi=10.5014/ajot.55.2.221|pmid=11761140|doi-access=}}</ref> Many agreed that while they believed it was beneficial to the patients, the proper training was lacking in order to effectively use It.<ref name=":1" /> Even though laughter and humor has been used therapeutically in medical conditions, according to Mora-Ripoll, there was not enough data to clearly establish that laughter could be used as an overall means of healing. It did suggest that additional research was still needed since "well-designed randomized controlled trials have not been conducted to date validating the therapeutic efficacy of laughter."<ref name=":0" />

In 2017, an institution in Japan conducted an open-label randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effects of laughter therapy on quality of life in patients with cancer.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal | last1=Morishima | first1=T | last2=Miyashiro | first2=I | last3=Inoue | first3=N | last4=Kitasaka | first4=M | last5=Akazawa | first5=T | last6=Higeno | first6=A | last7=Idota | first7=A | last8=Sato | first8=A | last9=Ohira | first9=T | last10=Sakon | first10=M | last11=Matsuura | first11=N | title=Effects of laughter therapy on quality of life in patients with cancer: An open-label, randomized controlled trial | journal=PLOS ONE | publisher=Public Library of Science | volume=14 | issue=6 | date=2019-06-27 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0219065 | article-number=e0219065 | pmid=31247017 | pmc=6597115 | doi-access=free | bibcode=2019PLoSO..1419065M }}</ref> The study used laughter yoga, comedy, clown and jokes. The result showed that laughter therapy was helpful in improving quality of life and cancer symptoms in some areas for cancer survivors. Improvements were seen in the area of depression, anxiety and stress levels. There were limited harmful side effects. Laughter therapy should be used in conjunction with other cancer treatment.<ref name=":2" />

==Research and philosophy==
{{Main|Gelotology}}

[[File:AdvertYoungsTheHatterVictorianEraBridgeportCT.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Late 19th-century or early 20th-century depiction of different stages of laughter on advertising cards]]

Laughter in literature, although considered understudied by some,<ref>[[John Morreall|Morreall, John]]. ''Taking Laughter Seriously'' (1983) p.ix.</ref> is a subject that has received attention in the written word for millennia. The use of [[humor]] and laughter in literary works (for example the [[wikt:Homeric laughter|homeric laughter]]  (ἄσβεστος γέλως, ásbestos gélōs, "unceasing laughter") in Greek epics like the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'') has been studied and analyzed by many thinkers and writers, from the [[Greek philosophy|Ancient Greek philosophers]] onward. [[Henri Bergson]]'s ''Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic'' (''Le rire'', 1901) is a notable 20th-century contribution.

===Ancient===

====Herodotus====
For [[Herodotus]], laughers can be distinguished into three types:<ref name="DL matter">[[Donald Lateiner|Lateiner, Donald]]. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/284034 ''No laughing matter: a literary tactic in Herodotus''], Transactions of the American Philological Association, Vol. 107. (1977), pp. 173–182.</ref>
*Those who are innocent of wrongdoing, but ignorant of their own vulnerability
*Those who are [[insanity|mad]]
*Those who are overconfident
According to [[Donald Lateiner]], Herodotus reports about laughter for valid literary and historiological reasons. "Herodotus believes either that both nature (better, the gods' direction of it) and human nature coincide sufficiently, ''or'' that the latter is but an aspect or analogue of the former, so that to the recipient the outcome is suggested."<ref name="DL matter" /> When reporting laughter, Herodotus does so in the conviction that it tells the reader something about the future and/or the character of the person laughing. It is also in this sense that it is not coincidental that in about 80% of the times when Herodotus speaks about laughter it is followed by a retribution. "Men whose laughter deserves report are marked, because laughter connotes scornful disdain, disdain feeling of superiority, and this feeling and the actions which stem from it attract the wrath of the gods."<ref name="DL matter" />

===Modern===
{{see also|Theories of humor}}

[[File:Harold Lloyd Portrait in Who's Who on the Screen.jpg|thumb|Comedian [[Harold Lloyd]] laughing]]There is a wide range of experiences with laughter. A 1999 study by two humor researchers asked 80 people to keep a daily laughter record, and found they laughed an average of 18 times per day. However, their study also found a wide range, with some people laughing as many as 89 times per day, and others laughing as few as 0 times per day.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Martin|first1=Rod A|last2=Kuiper|first2=Nicholas A|date=1999|title=Daily occurrence of laughter: Relationships with age, gender, and Type A personality|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269621027|journal=Humor|volume=12|issue=4|pages=355–384|doi=10.1515/humr.1999.12.4.355|s2cid=144221387|via=ResearchGate}}</ref>

====Hobbes====
[[Thomas Hobbes]] wrote, "The passion of laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from sudden conception of some eminency in ourselves, by comparison with the infirmity of others, or with our own formerly."{{citation needed|date=September 2021}}

====Schopenhauer====
Philosopher [[Arthur Schopenhauer]] devotes the 13th chapter of the first part of his major work, ''[[The World as Will and Representation]]'', to laughter.

====Nietzsche====
<!-- <ref>[[Paul E. Kirkland]] ''Nietzsche's Honest Masks: From Truth to Nobility "Beyond Good and Evil"'', The Review of Politics, Vol. 66, No. 4. (Autumn 2004), pp. 575–604.https://www.jstor.org/stable/4149163 </ref> --> 
[[Friedrich Nietzsche]] distinguishes two different purposes for the use of laughter. In a positive sense, "man uses the comical as a therapy against the restraining jacket of logic, morality and reason. He needs from time to time a harmless demotion from reason and hardship and in this sense laughter has a positive character for Nietzsche."<ref>[[Tarmo Kunnas|Kunnas, Tarmo]]. ''Nietzsches lachen: Eine studie über das Komische bei Nietzsche'', Edition Wissenschaft & literatur, 1982, p. 42</ref> Laughter can, however, also have a negative connotation when it is used for the expression of social conflict. This is expressed, for instance, in ''[[The Gay Science]]'': "Laughter – Laughter means to be [[schadenfroh]], but with clear conscience."<ref>Nietzsche, KSA 3, p. 506</ref>

"Possibly Nietzsche's works would have had a totally different effect, if the playful, ironical and joking in his writings would have been factored in better."<ref>Kunnas, Tarmo. ''Nietzsches lachen'', p.149.</ref>

====Bergson====
In ''[[Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic]]'', French philosopher [[Henri Bergson]], renowned for his philosophical studies on materiality, memory, life and [[consciousness]], tries to determine the laws of the comic and to understand the fundamental causes of comic situations.<ref>Henri Bergson, Le Rire, [http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Le_Rire._Essai_sur_la_signification_du_comique/Avant-propos ''Avant-Propos''] on Wikisource {{in lang|fr}}</ref> His method consists in determining the causes of the comic instead of analyzing its effects. He also deals with laughter in relation to human life, collective imagination and [[art]], to have a better knowledge of society.<ref>Bergson, Henri. ''Le Rire'', [http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Le_Rire._Essai_sur_la_signification_du_comique/Pr%C3%A9face "Préface"] on Wikisource {{in lang|fr}}</ref> One of the theories of the essay is that laughter, as a collective activity, has a social and moral role, in forcing people to eliminate their vices. It is a factor of uniformity of behaviours, as it condemns ludicrous and eccentric behaviours.<ref>Bergson, Henri. [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4352/4352-h/4352-h.htm ''Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic''], Chapter I (II) – online version on [[Project Gutenberg]]</ref>

====Ludovici====
[[Anthony Ludovici]] developed the thoughts of Hobbes even further in ''[[The Secret of Laughter]]''. His conviction is that there's something sinister in laughter, and that the modern omnipresence of humour and the idolatry of it are signs of societal weakness, as instinctive resort to humour became a sort of escapism from responsibility and action. Ludovici considered laughter to be an evolutionary trait and he offered many examples of different triggers for laughter with their own distinct explanations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anthonymludovici.com/sl_pre.htm|title=The Secret Of Laughter Preface, Introduction|website=www.anthonymludovici.com}}</ref>

====Bellieni====
[[Carlo Bellieni]] examined laughter in an essay published in ''New Ideas in Psychology''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bellieni |first1=Carlo V. |title=Laughter: A signal of ceased alarm toward a perceived incongruity between life and stiffness |journal=New Ideas in Psychology |date=1 January 2023 |volume=68 |article-number=100977 |doi=10.1016/j.newideapsych.2022.100977 |s2cid=251826870 }}</ref> He wrote we can strip back laughter to a three-step process. First, it needs a situation that seems odd and induces a sense of incongruity (bewilderment or panic). Second, the worry or stress the incongruous situation has provoked must be worked out and overcome (resolution). Third, the actual release of laughter acts as an all-clear siren to alert bystanders (relief) that they are safe.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Bellieni |first1=Carlo Valerio |title=Why do we laugh? New study considers possible evolutionary reasons behind this very human behaviour |url=https://theconversation.com/why-do-we-laugh-new-study-considers-possible-evolutionary-reasons-behind-this-very-human-behaviour-190193 |work=The Conversation |date=22 September 2022 }}</ref>

== Other animals ==
{{further|Emotions in animals#Vocalizations}}

Several non-human species including rats, apes and dolphins demonstrate vocalizations that sound similar to human laughter.

== See also ==
* [[Death from laughter]]
* [[Evil laughter]]
* [[Laughter yoga]]
* [[Paradoxical laughter]]
* [[Pathological laughing and crying]]
* [[Smile]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== 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
* {{cite book | last = Bakhtin | first = Mikhail | author-link = Mikhail Bakhtin | year=1941 | title = Rabelais and His World | publisher = [[Indiana University Press]] | location= Bloomington | isbn = 978-0-253-34830-2 | title-link = Rabelais and His World }}
* Chapman, Antony J.; Foot, Hugh C.; Derks, Peter (editors), [https://books.google.com/books?id=FSgteXd9HJUC&pg=PR22&dq=the+psychology+of+humor+and+laughter#PPP1,M1 ''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.
* {{cite journal | last1 = Davila-Ross | first1 = M. | last2 = Allcock | first2 = B. | last3 = Thomas | first3 = C. | last4 = Bard | first4 = K.A. | year = 2011 | title = Aping expressions? Chimpanzees produce distinct laugh types when responding to laughter of others | journal = Emotion | volume = 11| issue = 5| pages = 1013–1020| doi = 10.1037/a0022594 | pmid = 21355640 }}
* 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.
* {{cite journal | last = Hennefeld | first = Maggie | title = Death from Laughter, Female Hysteria, and Early Cinema | journal = [[Differences (journal)|differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies]] | volume = 27 | issue = 3 | pages = 45&ndash;92 | doi = 10.1215/10407391-3696631 | date = December 2016 }}
* Knight, Chris, [https://aeon.co/essays/does-laughter-hold-the-key-to-human-consciousness Does laughter hold the key to human consciousness? – Chris Knight | Aeon Essays "Does laughter hold the key to human consciousness?"] ''Aeon Magazine'' February 2019.
* Marteinson, Peter, ''[http://french.chass.utoronto.ca/as-sa/editors/origins.html On the Problem of the Comic: A Philosophical Study on the Origins of Laughter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716142240/http://french.chass.utoronto.ca/as-sa/editors/origins.html |date=2020-07-16 }}'', Legas Press, Ottawa, 2006. utoronto.ca
* {{cite journal | last1 = Miller | first1 = M | last2 = Mangano | first2 = C | last3 = Park | first3 = Y | last4 = Goel | first4 = R | last5 = Plotnick | first5 = GD | last6 = Vogel | first6 = RA | year = 2006 | title = Impact of cinematic viewing on endothelial function | journal = Heart | volume = 92 | issue = 2| pages = 261–2 | doi=10.1136/hrt.2005.061424| pmid = 16415199 | pmc = 1860773}}
* Provine, R. R., [http://cogweb.ucla.edu/Abstracts/Provine_96.html "Laughter"]. ''American Scientist'', V84, 38:45, 1996. ucla.edu
*{{cite book|last=Provine|first=Robert R.|isbn=978-0-14-100225-5|year=2001|title=Laughter: A Scientific Investigation|publisher=Penguin Publishing }}
*{{cite journal | author = Quentin Skinner | title = Hobbes and the Classical Theory of Laughter | year = 2004 | url = http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-926461-9.pdf | access-date = 2006-10-23 | author-link = Quentin Skinner | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121018111004/http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-926461-9.pdf | archive-date = 2012-10-18 }} included in book: {{cite book |last=Sorell |first=Tom |author2=Luc Foisneau |title=Leviathan After 350 Years |url=http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Philosophy/History/?view=usa&ci=9780199264612 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=139–66 |chapter=6 |chapter-url=http://fds.oup.com/www.oup.co.uk/pdf/0-19-926461-9.pdf |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-926461-2}}
* Raskin, Victor, ''Semantic Mechanisms of Humor'' (1985).
* MacDonald, C., [https://web.archive.org/web/20060925191607/http://www.psychnurse.org/view.asp?rID=4910 "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., [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928222941/http://www.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ai/papers/ref3/kawakami2006.pdf "Origins of smile and laughter: A preliminary study"] ''Early Human Development'' (2006) 82, 61–66. kyoto-u.ac.jp
* Johnson, S., [https://archive.today/20031211162003/http://www.discover.com/issues/apr-03/features/featlaugh/ ''Emotions and the Brain''] Discover (2003) V24, N4. discover.com
* [[Jaak Panksepp|Panksepp, J.]], Burgdorf, J.,[http://www.psych.umn.edu/courses/fall06/macdonalda/psy4960/Readings/PankseppRatLaugh_P&B03.pdf "'Laughing' rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy?"] ''Physiology & Behavior'' (2003) 79:533–547. psych.umn.edu
* Milius, S., [https://web.archive.org/web/20061129005110/http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20010728/fob9.asp "Don't look now, but is that dog laughing?"] ''Science News'' (2001) V160 4:55. sciencenews.org
* Simonet, P., et al., [http://www.petalk.org/LaughingDog.pdf ''Dog Laughter: Recorded playback reduces stress related behavior in shelter dogs''] 7th International Conference on Environmental Enrichment (2005). petalk.org
* Discover Health (2004) [https://web.archive.org/web/20061209053230/http://www.helpguide.org/life/humor_laughter_health.htm ''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 ==
{{Commons category|Laughing|lcfirst=yes}}
{{wikiquote}}
{{wiktionary}}
<!-- No joke sites or links to humor databases please... they may be funny but they're not encyclopedic. -->
* [https://aeon.co/essays/does-laughter-hold-the-key-to-human-consciousness Did laughter make the mind?], Aeon magazine
* [http://french.chass.utoronto.ca/as-sa/editors/origins.html The Origins of Laughter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716142240/http://french.chass.utoronto.ca/as-sa/editors/origins.html |date=2020-07-16 }}, chass.utoronto.ca
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120917003954/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2794/human-laughter-16-million-years-old Human laughter up to 16 million years old], cosmosmagazine.com
* [http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/laugh.html More information about Gelotology from the University of Washington], faculty.Washington.edu
* WNYC's Radio Lab radio show: [http://www.radiolab.org/2008/feb/25/is-laughter-just-a-human-thing/ Is Laughter just a Human Thing?], wnyc.org
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140107231035/http://www.writtensound.com/index.php?term=laughter Transcriptions of laughter], writtensound.com
* [https://archive.org/details/99Laughs/ Recordings of people laughing], 99 audio examples of human laughter
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171201040307/http://www.healinglaughter.org/blog/category/science/ Comprehensive summary of research on the benefits of laughter]

{{Authority control}}

{{Nonverbal communication}}

[[Category:Laughter| ]]
[[Category:Emotion]]
[[Category:Happiness]]
[[Category:Physiological psychology]]