So you just laugh. Voluntary, fake laughter that may or may not turn into genuine laughter. And you know that you can fake it ‘till you make it. But did you know what actually happens when you laugh? It’s a most complicated process that our bodies produce. Below is an excerpt from a BBC Bitesize article. It all starts in the brain We don’t choose to laugh [that is unless you practice laughter yoga]. Even if we’ve paid to watch live stand-up from a favourite comedian, we’re actually taking a gamble. If we laugh at a joke during the show, it’s involuntary, based on how our brain processes what we see and hear. It’s very difficult to pretend to laugh or force a guffaw - try it for yourself. It doesn’t sound genuine, does it? There is no scientific consensus on what makes us laugh, but it is thought the frontal lobe at the very front of the brain, which determines our emotional responses, plays a part, along with the limbic system. The frontal lobe is split into two halves, the left and the right. The left is the practical side and works out if the sounds and images we’re experiencing are a joke or not. The right side is the creative half and determines if we actually find the joke or situation funny or not. The frontal lobe cannot start our laughter off though. That’s up to the limbic system, located beneath the cerebral cortex. The limbic system handles basic emotions such as fear, anger and pleasure, and once it gets the message from the frontal lobe that we need to laugh at something, it sends another message out which sets the physical process of laughter in motion. Too complicated? Never mind, just laugh!
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