Honestly, who really needs a specific reason to laugh? It doesn’t matter much where the smile comes from, as long as it shows up. And whether it’s a funny series of images we’ve collected here or another compilation of animals being goofy, the goal is the same: a lighter mood and a few good giggles along the way.
While laughter comes naturally to us, it’s actually a fascinating subject. Researchers have been picking it apart for years, trying to figure out why we do it, what triggers it, and what it says about us. Along the way, they’ve uncovered plenty of interesting findings. Let’s take a look at a few of them.
For starters, it isn’t always tied to humor or a great joke. It often has less to do with punchlines and more to do with the people around us. In fact, the BBC notes that Robert R. Provine, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, found we laugh most when talking to our friends.
He did this by listening in on normal conversations at local malls with a few graduate students. And after all that eavesdropping, it turned out that out of 1,200 “laugh episodes,” only about 10 percent came from a joke. From the outside, whatever triggered those bursts of laughter often wouldn’t even register as “funny” to someone else, but it clearly worked in the moment.
In other words, laughter is often a social behavior we use to show others that we like them and understand them.
Actually, humans aren’t the only species on the planet who can laugh. Other animals can do it too. For example, researchers have recorded “tickle-induced vocalizations” in certain primates, according to Reader’s Digest. Penny Paterson, president of the Gorilla Foundation, has said that Koko, the gorilla famous for her sign language skills, even had a special “ho, ho” sound she used for visitors she liked.
Rats get a mention here as well. Their necks are apparently extra ticklish, and when Bowling Green State University scientist Jaak Panksepp and his graduate students tickled baby rats’ napes, the rodents let out high-pitched chirps that Panksepp interpreted as laughter.
Those rats were probably having the time of their lives squealing, and it turns out we could borrow a bit of that energy for our own relationships. If you want yours to last, it doesn’t hurt to make room for a few more giggles with your partner. Being able to laugh together, especially at yourselves, is usually a pretty good sign you’re doing something right.
Berkeley psychologist Prof Bob Levenson found this when he asked couples to discuss something about their partner that annoyed them, which is never the easiest conversation. The pairs who handled it by laughing and smiling felt better right away, reported higher relationship satisfaction, and were more likely to stay together long-term. Taking notes here!
And it only gets better from here. You know the old saying that laughter is the best medicine? It turns out there’s real research behind it. According to Reader’s Digest, multiple studies have linked laughter to genuine health benefits.
Research from Loma Linda University found that laughing improved memory in adults in their 60s and 70s, while researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine reported that watching hilarious movies helped blood vessels function better and increased blood flow in a group of 20 people in their thirties.
Other studies suggest laughter may support the immune system, help regulate blood sugar, and even improve sleep.
At the same time, laughter isn’t some magical cure that solves all your problems and turns you into the healthiest version of yourself. You’ve probably heard claims that it burns a ton of calories or doubles as a great ab workout. The reality is a bit less dramatic.
Laughing can raise your energy expenditure and heart rate by about 10–20%, but that usually translates to only around 10–40 calories for every 10–15 minutes of laughing. In fact, you’d have to keep laughing for up to three hours just to burn off a packet of chips.
