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Paris. A
rattling good laugh with friends will help you deal with pain thanks to
opiate-like chemicals that flood the brain, according to a British study
released on Wednesday.
Researchers
carried out lab experiments in which volunteers watched either comedy clips
from “Mr Bean” or “Friends,” or non-humorous items such as golf or wildlife
programs, while their resistance to mild pain was monitored.
Another
test was conducted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where the volunteers
watched either a stand-up comedy show or a theatrical drama.
In lab
conditions, the pain came from a deep-frozen wine-cooler sleeve which was
slipped onto the arm or from a blood-pressure cuff that was pumped to the
threshold of tolerance.
For the
Fringe Festival, the volunteers were asked to do a tough exercise -- leaning
against the wall with their legs at right angles, as if sitting on a
straight-backed chair -- before and immediately after the performance, to see
if laughter had helped with the pain.
Just 15
minutes of laughter increased the level of pain tolerance by around 10 percent,
the study found.
In the lab
experiments, the neutral, non-funny programming had no pain-alleviating effect
at all. Nor did watching drama at the Fringe Festival.
However,
the study notes two important distinctions.
The only
laughter that worked was relaxed, unforced laughter that creases the eyes, as
opposed to a polite titter.
And this
kind of belly laugh is far likelier to happen when you are with others, rather
than being alone.
“Very
little research has been done into why we laugh and what role it plays in
society,” said Robin Dunbar, head of the Institute of Social and Cultural
Anthropology at the University of Oxford.
“Using
microphones, we were able to record each of the participants and found that in
a comedy show, they laughed for about a third of the time, and their pain
tolerance rose as a consequence.”
The
protection apparently comes from endorphins, a complex chemical that helps to
transmit messages between neurons but also dulls signals of physical pain and
psychological stress.
Endorphins
are the famous product of physical exercise -- they help create the “buzz” that
comes from running, swimming, rowing, yoga and so on.
In
laughter, the release comes from an involuntary, repeated muscular exertion
that comes from exhaling without drawing a breath, the scientists believe. The
exertion leaves us exhausted and thereby triggers the endorphins.
Great apes
are also believed to be able to laugh but, unlike humans, they breathe in as
well as out when they do so.
The
investigators believe the experiments help to understand the physiological and
social mechanism of how laughter is generated.
The group
seems vital in unleashing the right kind of endorphin-making laughter, they
contend.
Previous
studies have focused more on why humans laugh, as opposed to how they do it.
One theory
is that laughter helps transmit mating signals or cements bonding between
individuals.
Another
idea is that, in a group setting, laughter promotes social cooperation and
collective identity. It is thus an evolutionary tool to help survival.
The paper
appears in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a journal published by Britain’s
defacto academy of sciences.
Agence France-Presse
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