Laughter is no laughing matter when we take a serious, or not so serious, look at the mental, social and physiological benefits it has in our lives.
After reading a dryly titled research article, Social Laughter Triggers Endogenous Opioids in Humans, in the Journal of Neuroscience, I began to realize that the role of joking in our lives is, really, no joke.
In fact, it turns out that there is solid scientific data suggesting we are our own drug dealers and, with smile-inducing laughter, we provide pretty good mind-altering substances ourselves.
Inducing laughter in subjects, neuroscientists in Finland took before and after PET (Positron-emission tomography) scans of people’s brains and found there was an increased amount of many naturally occurring neurochemicals after laughing, including endogenous opiates, that make us feel happy and calm.
As a result of the neurological events that laughter creates, it is not surprising that laughter is at the foundation of the social connecting and bonding we crave at the core of our beings.
From when we are babies with big toothless smiles until we are the elders of the group with, hopefully, similar wide and toothless grins, it is often laughter that helps us determine who we want as a friend or social connection. Getting the joke or sharing a laugh is like a filter helping us expand our social life and, with that, feel safe and succeed in life.
In earlier, more primitive stages of human evolution, the main expression of social bonding was grooming and social touching.
Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your perspective, it is generally discouraged to spontaneously reach out and groom the stranger directly in front of you in the grocery store line. At this point in time, it would be seen as an antisocial act with some legal implications.
Instead, we can point to the picture of United States president Donald Trump in a diaper on the cover of a magazine at the checkout line and share a laugh. It is then we realize, aided by increased neuro activity in the reward areas of our brain, who we might have common likes and dislikes with.
If you think Trump in a big white diaper waving a baby rattle is funny, then it might be safe to pursue social connection. Or at least smile and continue on with your daily errands in a better mood than before.
Also, the strong opiates, endorphins and other neurochemicals that laughter create are completely legal and, for now, not taxed by the government.
I don’t think collective futures will include stern-faced border guards or road checks where, “Sir, have you heard any good jokes lately?” is solemnly asked in a test of our neurological condition.
However, with the strange times we live in, who knows how the future with take shape. For now, we can live, laugh and connect.
If laughter is not the best item in our holistic medicine cabinet for overall wellness, it is definitely at the top of the list of essential things to include.
Robert Skender is a Powell River freelance writer and health commentator.
