Laughter has always fascinated me. Why do we laugh? Why did evolution come up with mechanism? I understand that crying has an evolutionary purpose (with infants showing distress etc.) but what purpose does laughing have? Its a topic I'd like to find out more about.
In a recent episode of Radio 4's 'The Life Scientific', neuroscientist Sophie Scott talks about her research and use of brain imaging techniques and explains that laughter is a very important social tool. The way in which laughter is used for humans to interact with each other answers some of my questions. Laughter is the only emotion to be cross-culturally recognised. And laughter is not exclusive to humans; studies have found that even rats laugh!
Studies have found that when hearing someone laughing, the brain appears to join-in. The mirroring system in the brain is activated when hearing laughter. We are behaviourally primed to join in with laughter, and it is encouraged, developmentally, in children. Studies also show that people are able to detect 'real' laughter and 'fake' posed laughter. These two types are under different brain controls i.e. controlled and automatic/uncontrolled.
This is definitely a subject I would like to do further research on in the future.
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