This has just been shown by an investigation by the University of Oxford . The study shows that those who laugh more are better able to withstand pain, but a simple smile is not worth it, you have to laugh out loud so that the body secretes endorphins that, in addition to creating euphoria, calm the pain.
To carry out the study, the research director, Robin Dunbar, divided the volunteers into two different groups. The first of them enjoyed humorous videos (“The Simpsons”, “Friends” or “South Park” ) for 15 minutes while the second group watched more boring programs, neutral videos. They were then subjected to pain tests to see how far they could bear the suffering: for example, putting ice packs on their arms until they could take no more.
The result was, to say the least, striking. Those who had previously burst out laughing were able to withstand the pain more than those who had seen less amusing projections.
In addition, the researchers wanted to highlight the role of the different types of laughter, since not all of them caused the same effect. While plain laughter has no pain-relieving effect, laughter does. And it is that the latter release endorphins that, as this experiment shows, in addition to generating a state of euphoria, soothe pain.
The study has been published in the technical journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. As explained by another of the authors who had previously studied the power of laughter in his study “Laughing: a scientific investigation”, Robert R. Provine, neuroscientist at the University of Maryland, “is a significant contribution” to the study of this so common physiological phenomenon: laughter .
