Neural correlates of laughter include two partially separate pathways: a voluntary route that enables smiling or laughing on command and an involuntary route that produces laughter without deliberate control. Laughter may have evolved as a mechanism for releasing tension and signaling that danger has been averted, thereby promoting social safety. Laughter also supports child development by shaping emotional regulation, resilience, and social competence. Physiologically, laughter can reduce cortisone, a stress hormone, and stimulate neurotransmitters associated with well-being. These effects connect laughter to both brain function and health outcomes, while also reflecting its long-standing role in human social life.
"The answer lies in the fact that the brain contains two partially separate pathways for smiling and laughter. The voluntary pathway allows us to smile or laugh on command. It originates at the motor cortex of the frontal lobe that control facial and vocal muscles. The involuntary path"
"Laughter may have evolved from release of tension, signalling averted danger, promoting social safety."
"Laughter is important in child development, shaping emotional regulation, resilience, and social competence."
"Laughter reduces cortisone, a stress hormone and stimulate neurotransmitters associated with well-being."
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]