ing, allows for adaptation to changing circumstances
and spurs creativity. Scientists believe this
is caused by the way humor activates the reward
center of the brain. In a Stanford University study,
participants were placed in MRI machines and
shown humorous cartoons. When the jokes were
found to be funny, a central area of the brain called
the nucleus accumbens became active. This is the
same reward circuit that pumps out dopamine.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that stimulates the
frontal lobe which is where creative thought takes
place. Enjoying a good laugh helps us to think out
of the box and with more efficiency.”
In the 1930s U.S. hospitals began to bring in
clowns to cheer children hospitalized with polio.
In 1972, the Gesundheit Institute (of Patch Adams
fame) was founded to bring “fun, friendship, and
the joy of service back into health care.”
Norman Cousins calls laughter “internal
jogging.” Cousins had been diagnosed with a
life-threatening illness, an experience that had
led him to question Western medicine. Cousins
collaborated with one of his doctors on a quest for
a different treatment. From here on, he literally
laughed himself back to health. He immersed himself
in only funny movies and television shows. He
enjoyed every one of the Charlie Chaplin movies,
and watched “Candid Camera” episodes until his
sides hurt, laughing. His illness disappeared. From
this experience, he wrote an enlightening book,
“Anatomy of an Illness.”
Even the Bible suggests that we keep a happy
heart: “A cheerful heart does good like a medicine:
but a broken spirit makes one sick.” Proverbs 17:22
According to “Alternative Therapies in Health
and Medicine,” even anticipating laughter can
enhance our biochemistry. In a novel experiment
conducted at Loma Linda University,
researchers studied a group of 16 healthy male
volunteers. The participants were assigned to
two groups. Blood was drawn from both groups
four times during the event and three times
afterward. The experiment group was told that
they would be watching a humorous video.
The control group was not. The findings were
astounding. The experiment group showed not
only a decrease in stress hormones (cortisol,
epinephrine, and dopac) but also an increase in
beta-endorphins (chemicals that alleviate depression)
and human growth hormone (which boosts
immunity).
Dr. Lee Berk, the team’s lead researcher, sums
up the study: “Our findings lead us to believe that
by seeking out positive experiences that make us
laugh we can do a lot with our physiology to stay
well.”
Laughter is proving to be a tool to protect ourselves
from heart disease. Dr. Michael Miller,
director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology
at the University of Maryland Medical Center,
sums up the benefits of laughter: “We don’t know
yet why laughing protects the heart, but we know
that mental stress is associated with impairment of
the endothelium, the protective barrier lining our
blood vessels. This can cause a series of inflammatory
reactions that lead to fat and cholesterol buildup
in the coronary arteries and ultimately to a
heart attack...The ability to laugh -- either naturally
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CULLMAN COUNTY SENIOR MAGAZINE FALL 2020 | 25