Laughter

Laughter is an audible expression (written as ha ha, he he, rotflmao, lol etc.), or appearance of merriment or happiness, or an inward feeling of joy and pleasure (laughing on the inside). It may ensue (as a physiological reaction) from jokes, tickling, and other stimuli. Inhaling nitrous oxide can also induce laughter; other drugs, such as cannabis, can also induce episodes of strong laughter. Strong laughter can sometimes bring an onset of tears or even moderate muscular pain.

Therapeutic benefits

The analgesic effect of laughing has been showed in many studies. This is especially available for the relief of chronic pain in arthritis, spine lesions, neurological diseases etc. Doctors are of opinion that laughing brings about the secretion of endorphins into blood. More than that, it is known that laughing is a strong muscle-relaxing method, which also relieves pain.

Laughter can also be called "inner jogging", because similar to morning jogging, the blood pressure increases and then it gradually lowers till it gets lower than the initial blood pressure. A person with hypertension, however, should not consider experimenting - laughing isn't a method of intensive therapy.

Laughter is a type of respiratory gymnastics. It corresponds to the Sanskrit name of "hasya-yoga". "Ho-ho" goes from the diaphragm, "ha-ha" goes from the heart or from the thorax, "hi-hi" – from the 'third eye'. It would be perfect to learn and use all these types of laughing with therapeutic purposes, but the most important laugh today is considered to be the deep one, the so-called guffaw.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine led by Michael Miller, M.D. have identified a link between laughter and blood vessel dilation. Specifically, they found that after watching a video that induced sustained laughter over a 20 minute period, a 35% increase in brachial artery dilation was observed. The researchers hypothesize that emotional laughter releases endorphins that activate the endothelium to release nitric oxide thereby resulting in vessel dilation and increased blood flow.

The laughter is considered to be a method of fighting stress (it inhibits the secretion of 4 main stress hormones). Recently, Japanese scientists discovered that laughing directly influences glucose level in blood.

Greek researchers have found through an experiment that 10-15 minutes of laughing burn from 10 to 40 calories, which leads to a weight loss of almost 4.5 lb (2 kg) per year.

So what are you thinking? Want a reason to laugh?

ok watch it:)

Causes

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.^[8] This theory explains why laughter can be as a coping mechanism for when one is upset, angry or 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.

For example, this is how this theory works in the case of humor: a joke creates an inconsistency, the sentence appears to be not relevant, and we automatically try to understand what the sentence says, supposes, doesn't say, and implies; if we are successful in solving this 'cognitive riddle', and we find out what is hidden within the sentence, and what is the underlying thought, and we bring foreground what was in the background, and we realize that the surprise wasn't dangerous, we eventually 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 the one of the basic laws of a comedian, called "exactness"). It is important to note that the inconsistency may be resolved, and there may still be no laugh. Due to the fact that laughter is a social mechanism, we may not feel like we are in danger, however, the physical act of laughing may not take place. In addition, the extent of the inconsistency (timing, rhythm, etc) has to do with the amount of danger we feel, and thus how intense or long we laugh. This explanation is also confirmed by modern neurophysiology.