22 DECEMBER 2015
HUMOUR
What’s a sleeping brain’s favourite pop band? REM. What do you call an elf who sings? A wrapper. Why did no one bid for Rudolph and Blitzen on e-Bay? They were two deer. Bad cracker jokes aside, thank you, humour. Connected to our highly developed frontal lobe (thinking a joke is funny) and limbic system (feeling that something is amusing) and motor cortex (moving the facial muscles to smile), laughing is extremely good for our overall health. As far as we know, we are one of the only species on the planet that laughs, although whether animals find us funny we cannot tell!
Yes, watching those silly cat videos on YouTube is good for you. Laughing out loud is linked to dramatically boosting the immune system, enhances the ability to solve problems with insights and is thought to be a group bonding experience, which is why it is harder to laugh audibly when you are on your own. I love most comedy and thank you, professional and amateur comedians alike for helping us to find the humour in the most banal, inexplicable and horrific things in life. Keep laughing! Thank you, humour.