Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. David DiSalvo writes about science, tech and culture. Intuitively we know that laughter is one of the best tools we have for ...

Amusement and pleasant surprises – and the laughter they can trigger – add texture to the fabric of daily life. Those giggles and guffaws can seem like just silly throwaways. But laughter, in response ...

You know the feeling (hopefully!): Something silly sets you off – a movie, a joke, or maybe someone near you slips and falls – and you burst into laughter. It feels good to laugh. And since the 1970s, ...

Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writers. CNN is showcasing the work of The Conversation, a collaboration between journalists and academics to provide news ...

Laughter is a universal social signal that connects us with others, but the brain regions underlying laughter are not well understood, in part because it's hard to elicit genuine laughter in the lab.

A laugh may signal mockery, humor, joy or simply be a response to tickling, but each kind of laughter conveys a wealth of auditory and social information. These different kinds of laughter also spark ...

Though it may seem like a paradox, children do not laugh for joy. Scientific studies, including my own, show that there is something much deeper than joy or mirth in a child’s laughter. Adults’ ...

Laughter, it's said, is the best medicine. And there's lots of evidence that laughter does lots of good things for us. It reduces pain and allows us to tolerate discomfort. It reduces blood sugar ...