Gelotology comes from the
Greek word
gelos and is the physiological study of
laughter. One of the first people to study laughter was
Robert Provine. During his experiments he documented how laughter is caused.
1. The left side of the
cortex analyzes the
joke
2. The
brain frontal lobe becomes active
3. The right
hemisphere of the cortex finishes the analysis of the joke
4. It then spreads to become processed by the
senses
5. Lastly the motor section of the brain gets stimulated to evoke laughter
Other
emotions are said to mainly stay in one section of the brain.
He also documented the three basic reasons why we
laugh.
1.
Incongruity theory - when logic and familiarity don't go to together. We laugh when we expect one thing and see or hear another.
2.
Superiority theory - this is when we laugh at someone else's
misfortune,
mistake or
stupidity. Like
laughing at your friend falling down the stairs.
3.
Relief Theory - when something is high in tension and then the tension ends. Sort of like
comic relief.
Robert Provine also proved that
laughter really is the best medicine. It brings people together and helps to relive
stress and illness. Laughter actually helps us physiologically. For instance it increases
blood platelets and increase the amount of
oxygen to the body. Comedians and
clowns are even now brought into hospitals to help the patients, sort of like
Patch Adams.
The American Cancer Society even sponsors laugh rooms in hospitals. It's not a bad workout either. Laughing almost 100 times is equivalent to 10 minutes of using a
rowing machine. So with that all said get out there and tell a joke.