New Study Finds Laughter Has Similar Effects to Meditation on the Brain

We've mentioned this many times before on our site, how incredibly healing laughter and joy are. Nice to see that modern science is catching up, from a recent press release associated with the study:

“What we have found in our study is that Humor Associated with Mirthful Laughter sustains high-amplitude gamma-band oscillations. Gamma is the only frequency found in every part of the brain. What this means is that humor actually engages the entire brain — it is a whole brain experience with the gamma wave band frequency and humor, similar to meditation, holds it there; we call this being, ‘in the zone’,” said Lee Berk, DrPH, MPH, principal investigator of the study and associate professor School of Allied Health Professions and associate research professor, pathology and human anatomy, School of Medicine, at Loma Linda University.

“When there is mirthful laughter, it’s as if the brain gets a workout because the gamma wave band is in synch with multiple other areas that are in the same 30-40 hertz frequency. This allows for the subjective feeling states of being able to think more clearly and have more integrative thoughts. This is of great value to individuals who need or want to revisit, reorganize, or rearrange various aspects of their lives or experiences, to make them feel whole or more focused,” Berk said.

Subjects who engage in joyful laughter produce substantial brain gamma wave band frequencies (30 to 40 Hz), which, according to other published research, are now known to be similar to those experienced by people who meditate and reach a state of contentment and happiness, the study said.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/04/prweb11782387.htm