Dr Rikaz Sheriff Certificate in Medical Education 7/21/2017 1
Outline of Lecture • Introduction to Laughter • Laughter – A Medical Perspective • Laughter – How your body does it • Laughter – Research & Practice • Laughter – The Dark Side Dr Rikaz Sheriff - Certificate in Medical 7/21/2017 2 Education
Introduction to Laughter • Laughter is an audible expression or the appearance of happiness, or an inward feeling of joy (laughing on the inside). • It may ensue (as a physiological reaction) from jokes, tickling or other stimuli. It is in most cases a very pleasant sensation. • Laughter is found among various animals such as rats and chimpanzees, as well as in humans. Dr Rikaz Sheriff - Certificate in Medical 7/21/2017 3 Education
Laughter – A Medical Perspective • It is a part of human behavior regulated by the brain, helping humans clarify their intentions in social interaction and providing an emotional context to conversations & can be contagious! • Laughter is anatomically caused by the epiglottis constricting the larynx. • The study of humor and laughter, and its psychological and physiological effects on the human body, is called gelotology . • Inability to laugh out loud is termed aphonogelia. Dr Rikaz Sheriff - Certificate in Medical 7/21/2017 4 Education
Laughter – How your body does it • Ventromedial prefrontal cortex • Limbic System • American Medical Association in 1984 � … So while purely emotional responses such as laughter are mediated by subcortical structures, especially the hypothalamus, and are stereotyped, the cerebral cortex can modulate or suppress them. � Dr Rikaz Sheriff - Certificate in Medical 7/21/2017 5 Education
Laughter – Research & Practice • A positive link has been found between laughter and a healthy function of blood vessels with laughter causing such tissues that form using the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, to dilate or expand such to increase blood flow. • Laughter Yoga is a type of relaxation exercise. • Professor Norman Cousins - �I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep� Dr Rikaz Sheriff - Certificate in Medical 7/21/2017 6 Education
Laughter – The Dark Side • Death may result from several pathologies that deviate from benign laughter. • Infarction of the pons and medulla oblongata in the brain may cause pathological laughter. • The incurable neurological disease Kuru is also known as the laughing sickness due to the pathologic bursts of laughter people would display when afflicted with the disease. • Excessive laughter can lead to cardiac arrest! Dr Rikaz Sheriff - Certificate in Medical 7/21/2017 7 Education
References • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laughter • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ventromedial_prefront al_cortex • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Cousins • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_from_laughter • http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19251872 Dr Rikaz Sheriff - Certificate in Medical 7/21/2017 8 Education
Dr Rikaz Sheriff - Certificate in Medical 7/21/2017 9 Education
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