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Trends in cognitive sciences
Dec, 2014;18 (12): 618-20.

The social life of laughter.

Sophie K Scott, Nadine Lavan, Sinead Chen, Carolyn McGettigan
Author Information
  1. Sophie K Scott: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL London, UK. Electronic address: sophie.scott@ucl.ac.uk.
  2. Nadine Lavan: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, UK.
  3. Sinead Chen: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL London, UK.
  4. Carolyn McGettigan: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, UK.
PMID: 25439499 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2014.09.002

Abstract

Laughter is often considered to be the product of humour. However, laughter is a social emotion, occurring most often in interactions, where it is associated with bonding, agreement, affection, and emotional regulation. Laughter is underpinned by complex neural systems, allowing it to be used flexibly. In humans and chimpanzees, social (voluntary) laughter is distinctly different from evoked (involuntary) laughter, a distinction which is also seen in brain imaging studies of laughter.

Keywords

conversation emotion laughter motor control voice

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Grants

  1. 090961/Wellcome Trust

MeSH Term

Animals
Auditory Perception
Brain
Emotions
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Laughter
Pan troglodytes
Social Behavior
Social Perception
Speech
Stress, Psychological
Volition
Journal Article
Article has an altmetric score of 493

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