1
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Cai CQ, Mueller MAE, Lima CF, Jin G, Turek A, Sivasathiaseelan H, Guldner S, Scott SK. Development of a novel tool to investigate human laughter behaviour and experience. Neurosci Lett 2024; 825:137690. [PMID: 38373631 DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2024.137690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/16/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024]
Abstract
We present a questionnaire exploring everyday laughter experience. We developed a 30-item questionnaire in English and collected data on an English-speaking sample (N = 823). Based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA), we identified four dimensions which accounted for variations in people's experiences of laughter: laughter frequency ('Frequency'), social usage of laughter ('Usage'), understanding of other people's laughter ('Understanding'), and feelings towards laughter ('Liking'). Reliability and validity of the LPPQ were assessed. To explore potential similarities and differences based on culture and language, we collected data with Mandarin Chinese-speaking population (N = 574). A PCA suggested the extraction of the same four dimensions, with some item differences between English and Chinese versions. The Laughter Production and Perception Questionnaire (LPPQ) will advance research into the experience of human laughter, which has a potentially crucial role in everyday life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ceci Q Cai
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Queen Square, University College London
| | - Marie A E Mueller
- Epidemiology & Applied Clinical Research, Division of Psychiatry, University College London
| | - César F Lima
- Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Gulun Jin
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Queen Square, University College London
| | - Arabella Turek
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Queen Square, University College London
| | - Harri Sivasathiaseelan
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Queen Square, University College London
| | - Stella Guldner
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Queen Square, University College London
| | - Sophie K Scott
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, Queen Square, University College London.
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2
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Mirandola L, Cantalupo G, d'Orsi G, Meletti S, Vaudano AE, Di Vito L, Vignoli A, Tassi L, Pelliccia V. Ictal semiology of gelastic seizures. Epilepsy Behav 2023; 140:109025. [PMID: 36780776 DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.109025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2022] [Revised: 11/09/2022] [Accepted: 11/23/2022] [Indexed: 02/13/2023]
Abstract
Gelastic seizures are rare epileptic manifestations characterized by laughter or a smile. The main etiology is represented by hypothalamic hamartoma, but also focal localization of the epileptogenic zone is described. We reviewed a group of patients with gelastic seizures to describe the semiology and to establish any difference related to diverse epilepsy etiologies. Thirty-five seizures from 16 patients (6 females) were reviewed. The study confirms that hypothalamic hamartoma is the more frequent etiology associated with gelastic seizures. Laughter represented the majority of gelastic ictal signs, while the ictal smile was less frequent. In 87.5% of patients, the manifestation of laughter or smile was the only ictal phenomenon, or the first and the most important clinical sign. Interestingly, it has been observed that patients with a lesion localized in the hypothalamic region had more frequently laughter with emotional involvement and that laughter was the only manifestation of the seizure. On the contrary, patients with lesions localized outside the hypothalamic region had more often seizures with laugh without emotional involvement, resembling a more mechanical action, and associated with other semeiological signs. It, therefore, seems possible to assume that the emotional involvement and the expression of mirth during the seizure, especially in children, are more frequently associated with hypothalamic hamartoma. On the contrary, when the semiology includes less conveyed emotion similar to a mechanical action and other symptoms, an extra hypothalamic localization should be considered.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gaetano Cantalupo
- Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, Department of Surgical Sciences, Dentistry, Gynecology and Pediatrics, University of Verona, Verona, Italy; Research Center for Pediatric Epilepsies Verona, Italy
| | - Giuseppe d'Orsi
- Neurology Unit, IRCCS Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (Fg), Italy; Epilepsy Center - Clinic of Nervous System Disease, Policlinico Riuniti, Foggia, Italy
| | - Stefano Meletti
- Division of Neurology, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy; Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Science, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Anna Elisabetta Vaudano
- Division of Neurology, University Hospital of Modena, Modena, Italy; Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Science, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy
| | - Lidia Di Vito
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Aglaia Vignoli
- Childhood and Adolescence Neurology and Psychiatry Unit, Niguarda Hospital Department of Health Sciences, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; Epilepsy Center-Child Neuropsychiatric Unit, ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo, Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Tassi
- "Claudio Munari" Epilepsy Surgery Center, Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Veronica Pelliccia
- "Claudio Munari" Epilepsy Surgery Center, Niguarda Hospital, Milan, Italy
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3
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Palagi E, Caruana F, de Waal FBM. The naturalistic approach to laughter in humans and other animals: towards a unified theory. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210175. [PMID: 36126670 PMCID: PMC9489289 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
This opinion piece aims to tackle the biological, psychological, neural and cultural underpinnings of laughter from a naturalistic and evolutionary perspective. A naturalistic account of laughter requires the revaluation of two dogmas of a longstanding philosophical tradition, that is, the quintessential link between laughter and humour, and the uniquely human nature of this behaviour. In the spirit of Provine's and Panksepp's seminal studies, who firstly argued against the anti-naturalistic dogmas, here we review compelling evidence that (i) laughter is first and foremost a social behaviour aimed at regulating social relationships, easing social tensions and establishing social bonds, and that (ii) homologue and homoplasic behaviours of laughter exist in primates and rodents, who also share with humans the same underpinning neural circuitry. We make a case for the hypothesis that the contagiousness of laughter and its pervasive social infectiousness in everyday social interactions is mediated by a specific mirror mechanism. Finally, we argue that a naturalistic account of laughter should not be intended as an outright rejection of classic theories; rather, in the last part of the piece we argue that our perspective is potentially able to integrate previous viewpoints-including classic philosophical theories-ultimately providing a unified evolutionary explanation of laughter. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cracking the laugh code: laughter through the lens of biology, psychology and neuroscience'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisabetta Palagi
- Unit of Ethology, Department of Biology, University of Pisa, via A. Volta 6, Pisa 56126, Italy
| | - Fausto Caruana
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Via Volturno 39/E, Parma 43125, Italy
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4
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Zauli FM, Del Vecchio M, Russo S, Mariani V, Pelliccia V, d'Orio P, Sartori I, Avanzini P, Caruana F. The web of laughter: frontal and limbic projections of the anterior cingulate cortex revealed by cortico-cortical evoked potential from sites eliciting laughter. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210180. [PMID: 36126672 PMCID: PMC9489285 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0180] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2022] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
According to an evolutionist approach, laughter is a multifaceted behaviour affecting social, emotional, motor and speech functions. Albeit previous studies have suggested that high-frequency electrical stimulation (HF-ES) of the pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) may induce bursts of laughter-suggesting a crucial contribution of this region to the cortical control of this behaviour-the complex nature of laughter implies that outward connections from the pACC may reach and affect a complex network of frontal and limbic regions. Here, we studied the effective connectivity of the pACC by analysing the cortico-cortical evoked potentials elicited by single-pulse electrical stimulation of pACC sites whose HF-ES elicited laughter in 12 patients. Once these regions were identified, we studied their clinical response to HF-ES, to reveal the specific functional target of pACC representation of laughter. Results reveal that the neural representation of laughter in the pACC interacts with several frontal and limbic regions, including cingulate, orbitofrontal, medial prefrontal and anterior insular regions-involved in interoception, emotion, social reward and motor behaviour. These results offer neuroscientific support to the evolutionist approach to laughter, providing a possible mechanistic explanation of the interplay between this behaviour and emotion regulation, speech production and social interactions. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cracking the laugh code: laughter through the lens of biology, psychology and neuroscience'.
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Affiliation(s)
- F M Zauli
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences 'L. Sacco', University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Department of Philosophy 'Piero Martinetti', University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- 'Claudio Munari' Epilepsy Surgery Center, ASST GOM Niguarda, Milan, Italy
| | - M Del Vecchio
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
| | - S Russo
- Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences 'L. Sacco', University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Department of Philosophy 'Piero Martinetti', University of Milan, Milan, Italy
- Allen Institute, Seattle, WA
| | - V Mariani
- Neurology and Stroke Unit Division, Circolo Hospital ASST Settelaghi University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
| | - V Pelliccia
- 'Claudio Munari' Epilepsy Surgery Center, ASST GOM Niguarda, Milan, Italy
| | - P d'Orio
- 'Claudio Munari' Epilepsy Surgery Center, ASST GOM Niguarda, Milan, Italy
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma
| | - I Sartori
- 'Claudio Munari' Epilepsy Surgery Center, ASST GOM Niguarda, Milan, Italy
| | - P Avanzini
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
| | - F Caruana
- Institute of Neuroscience, National Research Council of Italy (CNR), Parma, Italy
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5
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Wood A, Templeton E, Morrel J, Schubert F, Wheatley T. Tendency to laugh is a stable trait: findings from a round-robin conversation study. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210187. [PMID: 36126663 PMCID: PMC9489291 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0187] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
People often laugh during conversation. Who is more responsible for the laughter, the person laughing or their partner for eliciting it? We used a round-robin design where participants (N = 66) engaged in 10 different conversations with 10 same-gender strangers and counted the instances of laughter for each person in each conversation. After each conversation, participants rated their perceived similarity with their partner and how much they enjoyed the conversation. More than half the variability in the amount a person laughed was attributable to the person laughing-some people tend to laugh more than others. By contrast, less than 5% of the variability was attributable to the laugher's partner. We also found that the more a person laughed, the more their partners felt similar to them. Counterintuitively, laughter negatively predicted conversation enjoyment. These findings suggest that, in conversations between strangers, laughter may not be a straightforward signal of amusement, but rather a social tool. We did not find any personality predictors of how much a person laughs or elicits laughter. In summary, how much a person laughs in conversation appears to be a stable trait associated with being relatable, and is not necessarily reflective of enjoyment. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cracking the laugh code: laughter through the lens of biology, psychology and neuroscience'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne Wood
- University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA
| | | | | | | | - Thalia Wheatley
- Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA
- Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
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6
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The relationship between familiarity, gender, disagreement, and status and bouts of solitary and joint laughter. CURRENT PSYCHOLOGY 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12144-022-03671-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
AbstractThe current research treated laughter as an indexical with two closely allied properties: to designate talk as non-serious and to serve as a mode of address signalling a preference for solidarity. These properties gave rise to four discrete forms of laughter bout, solitary speaker, solitary listener, speaker-initiated joint, and listener-initiated joint laughter, which were examined using 55 same-gender pairs discussing three choice dilemma items. By exploring the associations between the wider contextual factors of familiarity, gender, disagreement and status, and the frequencies of each form of bout within the dyad, it was hoped to establish whether laughter was related to how participants modulated their social relationships. Neither familiarity nor disagreement had any effect on any of the forms of laughter bout, while females were found to demonstrate higher frequencies of joint speaker laughter than males. In unequal status pairs, high status female staff joined in the laughter of their low status female student interlocutors less often than the reverse, a finding comparable with the exchange of other terms of address, such as second person pronouns in European languages. It was concluded that joint laughter was a signal of solidarity and solitary speaker laughter was a declared preference for solidarity, but the significance of solitary listener laughter, beyond an acknowledgement of the speaker’s non-serious talk, remained less clear. It was also noted that norms associated with the setting and topic of interaction were influential in determining the extent to which laughter would be used to modulate the relationships between interlocutors.
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7
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Wood A, Sievert S, Martin J. Semantic Similarity of Social Functional Smiles and Laughter. JOURNAL OF NONVERBAL BEHAVIOR 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s10919-022-00405-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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8
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Plate RC, Zhao S, Katz C, Graber E, Daley G, Corbett N, All K, Neumann CS, Waller R. Are you laughing with me or at me? Psychopathic traits and the ability to distinguish between affiliation and dominance laughter cues. J Pers 2021; 90:631-644. [PMID: 34714936 DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2021] [Revised: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Laughter conveys important information that supports social communication and bonding. Research suggests that unique acoustic properties distinguish laughter that promotes affiliation from laughter that conveys dominance, but little is known about potential individual differences in laughter interpretation or contagion based on these specified social functions of laughter. Psychopathy is associated with both affiliative deficits (e.g., lack of empathy and impaired social bonding) and behaviors that assert social dominance (e.g., manipulativeness). Thus, relationships between psychopathic traits and impaired laughter interpretation or contagion could give insight into etiological pathways to psychopathy. METHOD In two studies conducted with four independent samples (total N = 770), participants categorized laughter clips that varied in the degree of affiliation or dominance conveyed. RESULTS Participants overall drew rich and accurate social inferences from dominant and affiliative laughter and modulated their interest in joining in with laughter based on the type and degree of affiliation and dominance conveyed. However, individuals higher in psychopathic traits failed to distinguish between laughter types and did not modulate their level of engagement based on laughter features. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest a potential mechanism that underlies the broader social difficulties associated with psychopathic traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rista C Plate
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Sylvia Zhao
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Chloe Katz
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Edie Graber
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Grace Daley
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Natalie Corbett
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Katherine All
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Craig S Neumann
- Department of Psychology, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, USA
| | - Rebecca Waller
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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9
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Davila-Ross M, Dezecache G. The Complexity and Phylogenetic Continuity of Laughter and Smiles in Hominids. Front Psychol 2021; 12:648497. [PMID: 34149534 PMCID: PMC8210476 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2020] [Accepted: 05/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Laughter and smiles are often, but not always, associated with positive affect. These expressions of humans help to promote social relationships as well as the development of cognitive and socio-emotional skills and they may have a positive impact on health and well-being, hereby covering a selection of fitness-relevant benefits. Both laughter and smiles of positive affect also occur early in human development and across cultures, suggesting deep roots in human biology. The present work provides an evolutionary reconstruction of the evolution of human laughter and smiles of positive affect in form and function, based on the principle of maximum parsimony. According to the Complexity and Continuity Hypothesis, human laughter and smiles of positive affect must have evolved within the context of play from ancestral species. Furthermore, ancestral ape laughter and their open-mouth faces must already have been complex in form and function and changed over time via categorically different phylogenetic pathways to become characteristic, effective, and pervasive behaviors of everyday social interactions in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Davila-Ross
- Psychology Department, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, United Kingdom
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10
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Lima CF, Arriaga P, Anikin A, Pires AR, Frade S, Neves L, Scott SK. Authentic and posed emotional vocalizations trigger distinct facial responses. Cortex 2021; 141:280-292. [PMID: 34102411 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.04.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2021] [Revised: 04/21/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The ability to recognize the emotions of others is a crucial skill. In the visual modality, sensorimotor mechanisms provide an important route for emotion recognition. Perceiving facial expressions often evokes activity in facial muscles and in motor and somatosensory systems, and this activity relates to performance in emotion tasks. It remains unclear whether and how similar mechanisms extend to audition. Here we examined facial electromyographic and electrodermal responses to nonverbal vocalizations that varied in emotional authenticity. Participants (N = 100) passively listened to laughs and cries that could reflect an authentic or a posed emotion. Bayesian mixed models indicated that listening to laughter evoked stronger facial responses than listening to crying. These responses were sensitive to emotional authenticity. Authentic laughs evoked more activity than posed laughs in the zygomaticus and orbicularis, muscles typically associated with positive affect. We also found that activity in the orbicularis and corrugator related to subjective evaluations in a subsequent authenticity perception task. Stronger responses in the orbicularis predicted higher perceived laughter authenticity. Stronger responses in the corrugator, a muscle associated with negative affect, predicted lower perceived laughter authenticity. Moreover, authentic laughs elicited stronger skin conductance responses than posed laughs. This arousal effect did not predict task performance, however. For crying, physiological responses were not associated with authenticity judgments. Altogether, these findings indicate that emotional authenticity affects peripheral nervous system responses to vocalizations. They also point to a role of sensorimotor mechanisms in the evaluation of authenticity in the auditory modality.
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Affiliation(s)
- César F Lima
- Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal; Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
| | | | - Andrey Anikin
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle (ENES)/Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon (CRNL), University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM UMR_S 1028, Saint-Etienne, France; Division of Cognitive Science, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
| | - Ana Rita Pires
- Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Sofia Frade
- Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Leonor Neves
- Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Sophie K Scott
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK
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11
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The impact of facemasks on emotion recognition, trust attribution and re-identification. Sci Rep 2021; 11:5577. [PMID: 33692417 PMCID: PMC7970937 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84806-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2020] [Accepted: 02/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Covid-19 pandemics has fostered a pervasive use of facemasks all around the world. While they help in preventing infection, there are concerns related to the possible impact of facemasks on social communication. The present study investigates how emotion recognition, trust attribution and re-identification of faces differ when faces are seen without mask, with a standard medical facemask, and with a transparent facemask restoring visual access to the mouth region. Our results show that, in contrast to standard medical facemasks, transparent masks significantly spare the capability to recognize emotional expressions. Moreover, transparent masks spare the capability to infer trustworthiness from faces with respect to standard medical facemasks which, in turn, dampen the perceived untrustworthiness of faces. Remarkably, while transparent masks (unlike standard masks) do not impair emotion recognition and trust attribution, they seemingly do impair the subsequent re-identification of the same, unmasked, face (like standard masks). Taken together, this evidence supports a dissociation between mechanisms sustaining emotion and identity processing. This study represents a pivotal step in the much-needed analysis of face reading when the lower portion of the face is occluded by a facemask.
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12
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Warren C, Barsky A, McGraw AP. What Makes Things Funny? An Integrative Review of the Antecedents of Laughter and Amusement. PERSONALITY AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY REVIEW 2020; 25:41-65. [DOI: 10.1177/1088868320961909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
Despite the broad importance of humor, psychologists do not agree on the basic elements that cause people to experience laughter, amusement, and the perception that something is funny. There are more than 20 distinct psychological theories that propose appraisals that characterize humor appreciation. Most of these theories leverage a subset of five potential antecedents of humor appreciation: surprise, simultaneity, superiority, a violation appraisal, and conditions that facilitate a benign appraisal. We evaluate each antecedent against the existing empirical evidence and find that simultaneity, violation, and benign appraisals all help distinguish humorous from nonhumorous experiences, but surprise and superiority do not. Our review helps organize a disconnected literature, dispel popular but inaccurate ideas, offers a framework for future research, and helps answer three long-standing questions about humor: what conditions predict laughter and amusement, what are the adaptive benefits of humor, and why do different people think vastly different things are humorous?
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13
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Wood A. Social Context Influences the Acoustic Properties of Laughter. AFFECTIVE SCIENCE 2020; 1:247-256. [PMID: 36042818 PMCID: PMC9383000 DOI: 10.1007/s42761-020-00022-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2020] [Accepted: 10/21/2020] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne Wood
- Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA USA
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14
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Bryant GA, Wang CS, Fusaroli R. Recognizing affiliation in colaughter and cospeech. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:201092. [PMID: 33204467 PMCID: PMC7657881 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Theories of vocal signalling in humans typically only consider communication within the interactive group and ignore intergroup dynamics. Recent work has found that colaughter generated between pairs of people in conversation can afford accurate judgements of affiliation across widely disparate cultures, and the acoustic features that listeners use to make these judgements are linked to speaker arousal. But to what extent does colaughter inform third party listeners beyond other dynamic information between interlocutors such as overlapping talk? We presented listeners with short segments (1-3 s) of colaughter and simultaneous speech (i.e. cospeech) taken from natural conversations between established friends and newly acquainted strangers. Participants judged whether the pairs of interactants in the segments were friends or strangers. Colaughter afforded more accurate judgements of affiliation than did cospeech, despite cospeech being over twice in duration relative to colaughter on average. Sped-up versions of colaughter and cospeech (proxies of speaker arousal) did not improve accuracy for either identifying friends or strangers, but faster versions of both modes increased the likelihood of tokens being judged as being between friends. Overall, results are consistent with research showing that laughter is well suited to transmit rich information about social relationships to third party overhearers-a signal that works between, and not just within conversational groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gregory A. Bryant
- Department of Communication, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Christine S. Wang
- Department of Communication, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Riccardo Fusaroli
- Department of Communication and Culture, Aarhus UniversityDenmark
- Interacting Minds Center, Aarhus UniversityDenmark
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15
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Gerbella M, Pinardi C, Di Cesare G, Rizzolatti G, Caruana F. Two Neural Networks for Laughter: A Tractography Study. Cereb Cortex 2020; 31:899-916. [DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhaa264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2020] [Revised: 07/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/14/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Laughter is a complex motor behavior occurring in both emotional and nonemotional contexts. Here, we investigated whether the different functions of laughter are mediated by distinct networks and, if this is the case, which are the white matter tracts sustaining them. We performed a multifiber tractography investigation placing seeds in regions involved in laughter production, as identified by previous intracerebral electrical stimulation studies in humans: the pregenual anterior cingulate (pACC), ventral temporal pole (TPv), frontal operculum (FO), presupplementary motor cortex, and ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens (VS/NAcc). The primary motor cortex (M1) and two subcortical territories were also studied to trace the descending projections. Results provided evidence for the existence of two relatively distinct networks. A first network, including pACC, TPv, and VS/NAcc, is interconnected through the anterior cingulate bundle, the accumbofrontal tract, and the uncinate fasciculus, reaching the brainstem throughout the mamillo-tegmental tract. This network is likely involved in the production of emotional laughter. A second network, anchored to FO and M1, projects to the brainstem motor nuclei through the internal capsule. It is most likely the neural basis of nonemotional and conversational laughter. The two networks interact throughout the pre-SMA that is connected to both pACC and FO.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Gerbella
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma 43125, Italy
| | - C Pinardi
- Neuroradiology Department, Fondazione I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Milan 20133, Italy
| | - G Di Cesare
- Cognitive Architecture for Collaborative Technologies Unit, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova 16163, Italy
| | - G Rizzolatti
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma 43125, Italy
- Institute of Neuroscience, Italian National Research Council (CNR), Parma 43125, Italy
| | - F Caruana
- Institute of Neuroscience, Italian National Research Council (CNR), Parma 43125, Italy
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Caruana F, Avanzini P, Pelliccia V, Mariani V, Zauli F, Sartori I, Del Vecchio M, Lo Russo G, Rizzolatti G. Mirroring other's laughter. Cingulate, opercular and temporal contributions to laughter expression and observation. Cortex 2020; 128:35-48. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2020.02.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Revised: 01/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
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