• Question: hi my question is why do we laugh ?

    Asked by shannon01 to Alessandro, Angela, Claudia, Marina, Phil on 12 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Phillip Wilkinson

      Phillip Wilkinson answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      Hi! Great question.

      We aren’t really sure if we are honest. But our current understanding suggests that laughter is less to do with humor and more to do with human bonding and to show playful intent. That’s why chimpanzees will produce laughter in the same situations that will make us laugh, when they are chasing each other or play fighting etc.

    • Photo: Marina De Vos

      Marina De Vos answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      Nice question indeed.
      I had a quick look on the internet and found this lovely article: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3077386/ns/technology_and_science-science/#.UT79DBwv8ic
      It suggest that laugher is something we are born with and that it happens unconsciously. When we laugh we use a lot of muscles and even change our breather pattern.

    • Photo: Claudia Krehl

      Claudia Krehl answered on 12 Mar 2013:

      We actually use 40 different muscles when we laugh! It is our most complicated facial expression in that sense and nothing else that we can do with our body uses as many muscles as laughing. I think apart from bonding it also helps us relax and reduce our stress levels.

Comments

  • Photo: whizzkid

    whizzkid commented on :

    Laughing can sometimes be completely involuntary and involves a complex series of muscles, which is why it’s so difficult to fake and also why an active effort is required to supress laughter. In the face, the zygomaticus major and minor anchor at the cheekbones stretch down towards the jaw to pull the facial expression upward; on top of this, the zygomaticus major also pulls the upper lip upward and outward. The sound of our laugh is produced by the same mechanisms which are used for coughing and speaking: namely, the lungs and the larynx. When we’re breathing normally, air from our lungs passes freely through the completely open vocal cords in the larynx. When they close, air cannot pass, however when they’re partially open, they generate some form of sound. Laughter is the result when we exhale while the vocal cords close, with the respiratory muscles periodically activating to produce the characteristic rythmic sound of laughing. The risorius muscle is used to smile, but affects a smaller a smaller portion of the face and is easier to control then the zygomaticus muscles. As a result, the risorius is more often used to feign amusement, hence why fake laughter is easier to detect. What? I’m interested in gelotology! 🙂