FL
AS
HPOP/GETTY^ IMAGESA belly laugh is
a good workout
for your trunk
musclesThe idea that laughter is the best
medicine may be something of a cliché,
yet there is some evidence for its health
benefits. A big belly laugh can exercise
the heart, for example, and it works
some of the trunk muscles as hard as
traditional crunches. For fab abs, watch
some classic comedy.
Given the importance of laughter in
our social lives (see main story), you
may also wonder whether you can use
it strategically to boost your friendships
or romantic relationships. A study
across 21 societies revealed that, in
general, people are able to tell the
difference between fake and authentic
laughs – but further experiments
suggest that both kinds can increase
someone’s likeability. So, if you are
typically po-faced, you might consider
punctuating your conversation with
some well-meaning chuckles to build
a rapport with the people you meet.
Beware, though: people’s
perceptions of your laughter will
depend on their existing opinions
of you, and if they already find you
irritating, it may just aggravate their
annoyance. Instead, you might do
better to look for situations that will
allow you and your acquaintance to
laugh spontaneously. One study found
that people who watched a funny film
together tended to open up afterwards,
disclosing more personal information
to each other. So, if you want to get
serious with someone, get funny first.laughs, reinforcing the loving interactions.
Mireault makes a similar argument, and
points out that it brings obvious evolutionary
benefits. “Laughter may serve as a kind
of ‘bonding agent’ that keeps caregivers
connected – in the loveliest way – to an infant,”
she says. “The infant subsequently benefits
from having an engaged caregiver, both in
terms of its physical survival and in termsof developing those critical feelings
of attachment toward the caregivers.”
Mireault’s observations of parents and
children suggest that it doesn’t take long for
babies to learn how to use the polite affiliation
laugh. A 6-month-old playing peek-a-boo, for
instance, may offer a muted giggle as it grows
bored of the game. “It’s using an effective social
strategy,” she says. By 8 months of age, babies
are clowning around to amuse others. They are
constrained by their clumsy movements and
lack of speech, but their burgeoning humour
involves making funny faces, imitating others
and deliberate teasing, such as holding out a
car key and then snatching it away before the
caregiver can reach it.
Mireault thinks such behaviours show the
early development of theory of mind – the
ability to understand that others have their
own thoughts and perspectives – which is
generally not believed to blossom until
several years later in a child’s development.
“When a baby attempts to tease another
person, it reveals that the infant understands
that it can influence what someone else is
thinking,” she says.
If that isn’t profound enough, some
researchers have suggested that tickling – one
of the most common ways to elicit laughs in
a baby – might be one of the first experiences
that help infants acquire a sense of self. The
argument is that we aren’t ticklish to our
own touch, only to someone else’s, so these
seemingly superficial interactions could prime
a baby’s brain to recognise itself as a unique
body distinct from other things in the world.
Because laughter is so intimately linked
with sociality, learning to laugh is a serious
business. “If you can’t join in with laughter,
or you don’t want to join in with laughter,or laughter straightforward irritates you – that
will have a really big impact on the interactions
that you have with people,” says Sophie Scott
at University College London. She and others
have found that laughter is less contagious
among boys at risk of developing psychopathy.
Her team has also shown that people with
dementia often struggle to identify the
different types of laughter, and that this skill
is particularly impaired in those with damage
to the frontotemporal lobes, which is mostly
associated with early-onset dementia.
These are early findings, but Scott thinks
that the ongoing study of laughter will shed
light on the development of these and many
other psychiatric and neurological conditions,
including depression. She also proposes
programming apps to record people’s laughter
through their smartwatches or phones,
providing a kind of “index” of someone’s
mental health that might be useful for
healthcare providers.
Like many scientists studying laughter,
Scott initially faced some resistance from
colleagues who saw her research as unworthy
of serious interest. She is now more convinced
than ever of the profound insights it can offer
for understanding the human condition.
“Things that seem trivial and silly may actually
be the most important elements of people’s
lives,” she says. We may think of laughter as
just a simple expression of humour, but it
really is no joke. ❚How to game
laughter
David Robson is having a
laugh. His forthcoming book
is The Expectation Effect74 | New Scientist | 18/25 December 2021
“ Tickling could
prime a baby’s
brain to acquire
a sense of self ”