Laughter is universal, a sound instantly understood in any culture. Babies begin laughing at two to four months—even deaf children who can’t be accused of emulating their parents. That said, laugher is contagious and can be triggered by others, explaining the necessity for canned laugh tracks on bad TV sitcoms.
Laughology, the amusing documentary by Albert Nerenberg (out Sept. 7 on DVD), wonders whether laughter really is the best medicine, as the Readers Digest once put it. Speaking with scientists and physicians, including neuroscientist Robert Provine, Nerenberg finds that laughter in essence is involuntary, an unconscious response. Provine believes it originated in the panting of mammals at play, and that primates are laughing much of the time. To laugh opens constrictions in blood vessels promoting circulation and a healthy heart.
Perhaps in keeping with its subject, Laughology is often goofy in form in not always in content. And it asks a serious question: is the stress of contemporary life causing us to laugh less, leading to bad health along with anger and sour dispositions?
