Blog Post #1: Source of Laughter

 

HAHAHA! We laugh at certain things. But why do we laugh? What is its scientific explanation? Laughing is like a reflex in the brain that triggers when something appears to be funny to you, it sometimes activates all parts of your body, making you look hysterical and crazy. Well, they said it's a good thing to laugh, it appears to be a positive thing if you always do it, it's a good vibe, it makes people feel good especially when you are laughing like a worm on the ground that has been poured with salt, or a monkey who gets wild after seeing you.

I myself have considered a hysterical laughing person, sometimes I laugh at shallow jokes. I laugh because of people's facial expressions and how they laugh. I giggle secretly if someone accidentally falls. Anyway, why do we laugh? What's the reason? According to a recent article by Robert Provine entitled "A big mystery: Why do we laugh?", laughter occurs unconsciously and you don't decide to do it. There is a scientific explanation on how laughing occurs. There is an experiment conducted as said in the 4th page of the article written Marshall Brain, How Laughter Works.

"For example, Derks traced the pattern of brainwave activity in subjects responding to humorous material. Subjects were hooked up to an electroencephalograph (EEG) and their brain activity was measured when they laughed. In each case, the brain produced a regular electrical pattern."

It is said that, an electrical wave moved through the cerebral cortex, the largest part of the brain. If the wave took a negative charge, laughter resulted. If it maintained a positive charge, no response was given, researchers said. In that article, it is also said that not only one part of the brain functions when laughter is resulted, there are certain parts of the brain that function, there is a part where the words and the structure of the joke is analyzed, there is a part where social emotional responses become very active, a part where you "get" the sense of the joke, Brainwave activity then spread to the sensory processing area of the occipital lobe (the area on the back of the head that contains the cells that process visual signals). Stimulation of the motor sections evoked physical responses to the joke.

Well, partly, that is the science of laughter, and it's called gelotology. As the first part among my blogs (So it means there will be more), I 'd want to know all about laughter, apparently all the branches of studies that are related to it, I want to know what kind of things make people laugh, what are the kinds of laughter people have. Basically, This is just the start of my research about laughter, not because it's part of college, but because research is essential, it's powerful.

I can say that the research I had is pretty authentic because it came from a reliable source, some from doctors, some from experts, some from psychologists, and some from fellow bloggers. It is somewhat understandable to me, it's a good research overall.

So for the conclusion, I would like the readers of this blog to partly understand what laugher is, why it is occurring, and what is its scientific explanation. Many of us do not know at first what is the source of laughter, but by the time I research more, I hope I can help you through it, more information will be added every week through these blogs.

This is the science of laughter, how it works and how it triggers. Laughter is said to be "The best medicine" I'll try to tell about this for my next blog, feel free to comment! I would appreciate it. Thank you people! God bless! Have a nice day.