Laughter is the Best Medicine: Helps Reduce Cortisol Levels

Laugh a little. It's good for your health, according to a recent study conducted by researchers from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Findings showed that those who had a hardy dose of laughter more often were also more likely to have a reduced rate of the stress hormone cortisol, which can increase weight gain, harm cognitive function and disrupt the learning process, particularly in seniors.

Part of the study involved watching a funny 20-minute movie. Each movie was shown to two different groups: A group of healthy seniors and a group of seniors with diabetes. Those two groups were then compared to a group who didn't see the video.

Study results revealed that the two groups who watched the funny video had a significant reduction in cortisol levels along with greater improvements in memory tests compared to other groups that didn't see the video. In fact, the diabetic group showed the greatest decrease in cortisol levels, as well as the greatest improvement for memory tests.

"It's simple, the less stress you have, the better your memory," said one of the study's authors, Lee Berk, via CNN. "Humor reduces detrimental stress hormones like cortisol that decreases memory [brain cells], lowers your blood pressure and increases blood flow and your mood state. The act of laughter-or simply enjoying some humor-increases the release of endorphins and dopamine in the brain, which provides a sense of pleasure and reward."

"These positive and beneficial neurochemical changes, in turn, make the immune system function better," Berk added, via the news organization. "There are even changes in brain wave activity towards what's called the 'gamma wave band frequency', which also amp up memory and recall. So, indeed, laughter is turning out to be not only a good medicine, but also a memory enhancer adding to our quality of life."

More information regarding the findings were presented at the Experimental Biology meeting in San Diego.