What happens in our brain when we laugh? A recent study affirms that laughter causes brain waves similar to those we have when we do meditation.
The study, carried out by the Loma Linda University School of Medicine in California (USA) included a small sample of 31 volunteers whose brain waves were monitored while they watched videos on these three topics: humor, spirituality and terror. Examination of the results determined that the humorous videos produced a high level of gamma waves , which are the same ones that trigger the meditation exercise, according to the researchers.
The spiritual videos stimulated alpha brain waves , analogous to those produced while we sleep or are at rest. Finally, the disturbing videos caused flat brain waves , like when a person is in a situation where they do not want to be.
The researchers say these are preliminary results, but “what this means is that humor actually involves a total brain experience similar to meditation and that, with laughter, it is as if the brain received a training . And this effect is important because it allows us to be able to think more clearly, have more positive and conciliatory thoughts and be able to make key decisions in our lives in a more serene way, ”says Lee Berk, leader of the study.
