Dec. 12, 2006 -- The sound of
laughter may make you smile and laugh, British researchers
report.
"It seems that it's absolutely true that 'laugh and the whole world
laughs with you,'" Sophie Scott, PhD, says in a news release. Scott
is a professor at University College London's Institute of
Cognitive Neuroscience.
Scott's team says when people hear the sound of laughter, their
brain areas that control smiling and laughing become active.
The researchers played the sounds of laughter through headphones to
20 healthy people with good hearing (average age: 32).
While listening to laughter, participants got brain scans using
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The brain scans
showed activity in brain areas that control facial muscles used in
smiling and laughing. In short, the sound of laughter spurred the
brain to get ready to laugh and smile.
Participants' brain scans showed similar activity upon hearing
tapes of people cheering, but not after hearing cries of fear or
disgust.
The findings may explain how the brain mirrors other people's
positive emotions.
"We usually encounter positive emotions, such as laughter or
cheering, in group situations, whether watching a comedy program
with family or a football game with friends," Scott says.
"This response in the brain, automatically priming us to smile or
laugh, provides a way of mirroring the behavior of others,
something which helps us to interact socially," she says.
"It could play an important role in building strong bonds between
individuals in a group," Scott adds.
Retrieved for the quality
of being resonant 
Fymk
Her daddy is not a Lee
He is only a Wee
Exposed what the elites really see
Told off non relative Wee
as though he is donkey pee
Now she is abandoned by her clan in RJC
If she had been diplomatic
her future will be damn shiny
now her daddy career is abit shakey
Ang Mo Kio not happy
Ai yo..now he has to worry
His daughter made a fool out of PAP
Lao Lee sure bloody angry
66.6% is already very shakey
I only just wait and see
what will the poor girl be.
Because with CNN
Comes International Publicity!
Nightzip
She sells seashells by the sea shore,
The seashells she sells are by the sea shore,
If she sells seashells by the sea shore,
Then she sells sea shore shells.
Fymk
She has proven the lore
What a bore
Everyone already suspect the core
CNN just advertise it a little more