Explore the health benefits of laughter and how contagious it can be
Explore the health benefits of laughter and how contagious it can be
Learn about the health benefits of laughter and how it can be contagious.
Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Transcript
NARRATOR: People, despite all our differences - cultural, linguistic, appearance - we all have one thing in common: smiling and laughing. An expression of joy and happiness at the same time. But why do we laugh? People can laugh from the moment they're born, and laughing is essentially human. Only primates have the ability to do so. This is how we signal to those around us "Put down your guard, I'm not aggressive." Laughing and smiling eases our interpersonal interactions too. It creates a jollier atmosphere, is an expression of well-being and sympathy and it provides stress and anger release.
HINDERK M. EMRICH: "It gets emotional energies flowing and it has a liberating effect. It's like when you cough something up. You could call it an emotional-release cough."
NARRATOR: When people laugh they engage their face, respiratory and laryngeal muscles. They breath faster and deeper and the bronchial passages receive a heavier supply of oxygen. But the most important thing: the body releases endorphins. Laughing is good for you.
EMRICH: "Laughing is contagious because joyous emotions are infectious. This is because of what's called mirror neurons that we can see working here in this image. When other people have emotions they cause us to be electrified, like what happens to us when someone laughs and I start to laugh and, in effect, experiencing the laugh of the other person."
NARRATOR: But how contagious is laughing really? We are running a test. An audio tape with the laughter of people in the middle of a pedestrian area. It's true: it works. Laughter is contagious. Most, anyway. And moreover, laughing is pretty easy. It takes 54 muscles to pull a grimace, but only 43 to laugh. Children have it even easier; they laugh up to 400 times a day. Adults, on the other hand, laugh only 15 times a day - so the statistics say. It appears that the older you get, the less you have to laugh about. So laugh more. Remember, it also strengthens your immune system. Laughing for two minutes is equal to jogging for 20 minutes. And, wasn't it Charlie Chaplin who said "A day without laughter is a day wasted?"
HINDERK M. EMRICH: "It gets emotional energies flowing and it has a liberating effect. It's like when you cough something up. You could call it an emotional-release cough."
NARRATOR: When people laugh they engage their face, respiratory and laryngeal muscles. They breath faster and deeper and the bronchial passages receive a heavier supply of oxygen. But the most important thing: the body releases endorphins. Laughing is good for you.
EMRICH: "Laughing is contagious because joyous emotions are infectious. This is because of what's called mirror neurons that we can see working here in this image. When other people have emotions they cause us to be electrified, like what happens to us when someone laughs and I start to laugh and, in effect, experiencing the laugh of the other person."
NARRATOR: But how contagious is laughing really? We are running a test. An audio tape with the laughter of people in the middle of a pedestrian area. It's true: it works. Laughter is contagious. Most, anyway. And moreover, laughing is pretty easy. It takes 54 muscles to pull a grimace, but only 43 to laugh. Children have it even easier; they laugh up to 400 times a day. Adults, on the other hand, laugh only 15 times a day - so the statistics say. It appears that the older you get, the less you have to laugh about. So laugh more. Remember, it also strengthens your immune system. Laughing for two minutes is equal to jogging for 20 minutes. And, wasn't it Charlie Chaplin who said "A day without laughter is a day wasted?"