Two new studies reveal that laughing long and laughing often not only feels good but is also good for you on what might be described as an evolutionary level.
Researchers from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore discovered through watching funny movies that laughing has positive impacts on vascular functions. As researchers analyzed their blood vessels, 300 participants watched segments from the comedy There’s Something About Mary, as well as segments from the psychologically stressful film Saving Private Ryan.
“When study volunteers watched the stressful movie, their blood vessel lining developed a potentially unhealthy response called vasoconstriction, reducing blood flow. … Overall, more than 300 measurements were made with a 30-50% difference in blood vessel diameter between the laughter (blood vessel expansion) and mental stress (blood vessel constriction) phases.”
According to study author Michael Miller, “The magnitude of change we saw in the endothelium after laughing was consistent and similar to the benefit we might see with aerobic exercise or statin use.”
Miller said they got the idea for the study from previous studies that had shown mental stress caused blood vessels to constrict.
On top of doing wonders for your vascular health, Oxford University psychologist Robin Dunbar told the New York Times there are other reasons that laughter makes us feel good. His study found that laughing produces endorphins. Through their tests, researchers found that social laughter can be correlated with a higher pain threshold and that laughing can be considered an evolutionary tool.
“Laughter is an early mechanism to bond social groups,” Dunbar said. “Primates use it.”
Heather Rudow is a staff writer for Counseling Today. Email her at hrudow@counseling.org.