Brain Rewards Us for Laughing: Study

Reuters ^ | 12/26/03 | Merritt McKinney

[bdeaner]

Brain Rewards Us for Laughing: Study
Fri December 26, 2003 02:53 PM ET

By Merritt McKinney

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - They say laughter is the best medicine, and a new study may help explain how laughter makes us feel good.

Researchers report that humor seems to activate brain networks that are involved in rewards.

Humor is no laughing matter, according to Dr. Allan L. Reiss of Stanford University in California, who led the research.

"Humor has significant ramifications for our psychological and physical health," he told Reuters Health. Our sense of humor, he said, "often dictates if, how and with whom we establish friendships and even long-lasting romantic relationships." Humor is also a "universal coping mechanism" for dealing with stress, Reiss added.

Despite the importance of humor, Reiss said that little is known about the brain mechanisms that underlie humor.

The Stanford researcher noted that most people are drawn to humor and that it makes people feel good. "We seem to feel rewarded" by humor, he said.

Now, Reiss and his colleagues report that they have zeroed in on the brain's reward system for humor.

In the study, volunteers had their brain activity monitored as they read a series of cartoons. Some of the cartoons were supposed to be funny, but others had the funny cues omitted.

After viewing each strip, participants pushed a button if they thought the comic was funny.

Researchers found that when a cartoon made a person laugh, a brain network that is known to be involved in reward was activated. In fact, the areas activated by humor have been shown previously to be activated by amphetamines and cocaine, according to a report in the December 4th issue of the journal Neuron.

"I believe that understanding humor is fundamental to understanding many aspects of 'normal' human social behavior," Reiss said.

Learning more about the brain mechanisms that underlie humor may also help scientists who study depression, according to Reiss. He noted that the loss of the ability to appreciate humor is a common symptom of depression.

"We believe that utilizing studies such as this may be one way to more specifically identify individuals at risk for depressive disorders," Reiss said. The research may also be useful in measuring a person's response to treatment for depression, according to Reiss. The humor reward system in the brain may come "on line" even before symptoms of depression change, he said.

The research may also help explain "humorless" people, who, Reiss noted, may have serious problems in relationships.

"Perhaps they are missing this reward link in their circuitry," he said.

Finally, humor is known to play a role in the sleeping disorder narcolepsy and other conditions, Reiss said.

[bdeaner]

Maybe this one should be filed under the "duh" category of research, but interesting nonetheless. There is a large body of research that demonstrates the benefits of laughter for health. This one links this effect to the dopaminergic pathway, the reward center of the brain.

[cmsgop]

Oh Great, that means Lazamataz and Chad Fairbanks are gonna live forever.....

[Rhetorical pi2]

The way I screw up telling jokes, people begin to gag...so ALL humor isn't good for your health.

By the way, have you heard the one about the dog who goes into a bar... :o)

[Cogadh na Sith]

I laugh at the utter horror and pointlessness of life.

[Lazamataz]

I laugh at the utter horror and pointlessness of life.

The decay, the stench -- the futility of existence is totally horrific. One reels in repulsion at the deadening daily grind, meant only to occupy time until you reach blissful death. There is no love. There is no friendship. No loyalty. No honor. There is utterly no point. There is nothing but a putrid odor of insect-infested morbidity.

Which makes me laugh my ass off.

q

[nothingnew]

Laughter is your best friend. I gave up beating my head against the wall when trying to refute leftist acquaintences I have. I just laugh at their oddities and ridiculous ravings, and it makes them sooooo MAD!....and it feels good.

FMCDH

[StilettoRaksha]

Laughter is truly the best medicine!

[My back yard]

We must get in touch with the dopaminergic part of our brains, and soon.

[pabianice]

Apparently, Liberals are doomed to all die before age 40...

[metalboy]

The research may also help explain "humorless" people, who, Reiss noted, may have serious problems in relationships.

But what about Hitlery and the evil that resides in this spawn of Lucifer? This demon is still together with William Jefferson!

[Larry Lucido]

ROLFMAOATSOTABSNMBIRM!!!!!!!!!!!

(Rolling on floor laughing my ass off at the stupidity of this article but suddenly noticing my brain is rewarding me)

[miltonim]

I notice posters at FreeRepublic are kind of funny!

I also hear a lot about people being addicted to FreeRepublic.

Could it be that posters get a high while on this forum?

[Larry Lucido]

Could it be that posters get a high while on this forum?

Just the Libertarian ones.

Ducking for cover. Was that a twinkie that just flew by my ear?

[miltonim]

May be not for a high, but for a good laugh go here: I New plan for Iraq war(PICTURE)

[Maria S]

"The way I screw up telling jokes, people begin to gag...so ALL humor isn't good for your health."

You, Sir or Ma'am, just made MY day! I CANNOT tell a joke for the life of me! If I DO get most of the way through one, I forget the *^#%^ing punchline! The Big Guy tells great jokes...I just leave the joke-telling up to him.

[stands2reason]

I gotta tell you, you and Chad, well...

how can I put this....

Mr. S2R is great, sweet, cute, and very loving, a good provider, very responsible man whom I'll love to the end of time. But, he's just not very funny. Shh!

So, yes, I go elsewhere for what he can't give me. I am not (completely) ashamed. I'm a woman, I have needs.

So what I'm trying to say, is, thanks for the laughs.

And please, try not to judge.

[stands2reason]

Just the Libertarian ones.

A familiar refrain I see on FR. Can we please lay off the "druggie" aspersions?

FYI: Not all drug-users are libertarians.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

You either have to laugh or cry. And crying makes my nose all red and runny.

[txzman]

The brain rewards us much, much, more for loving. And you don't need a study to understand that. Just a heart.

[Larry Lucido]

Come on, lighten up. It's good for the brain (read the article).

Besides, I've lit up a couple in my time, and wasn't even making a political statement. :-)

[stands2reason]

That just went completely over your head, didn't it?

[Senator Pardek]

Ah... that's why my ex-wife said I was good in the bedroom...

[secretagent]

So, this dyslexic guy, he walks into a bra.

[GreenHornet]

Bob Hope and George Burns both lived to be 100.

[Nick Danger]

Humor is no laughing matter, according to Dr. Allan L. Reiss

That guy sounds like my least favorite nun, Sister Mary Yardstick.

Wipe that smile off your face young man

[savedbygrace]

Which makes me laugh my ass off.

So it's a weight loss program as well?

[Old Grumpy]

I need to quit being so grumpy and start laughing more, myself, but one of my problems is that I laugh when I shouldn't - like when somebody stumps their toe on a couch leg. Sad but true. I'm a sick person.

[AlaninSA]

And people doubted the power of The Brain...

[Porterville]

Reiss.... I think that is Latin for laughter... funny, isn't it???

[Porterville]

Dr. Allan L. Reiss

[bdeaner]

You might have something there. Both drugs and humor stimulate the dopaminergic pathway. Addiction to comedy? Next time someone tells me they are addicted to a sit-com on TV, I'll take them a little more seriously!