Laughing increases serotonin and seems to increase Nitric Oxide ?

JamesGatz

Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2021
Messages
3,189
Location
USA
I think most of us can agree that we all "feel better" when laughing but a few things I found interesting was this:


"Laughter has an effect similar to antidepressants. Laughing activates the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, the same brain chemical affected by the most common types of antidepressants, SSRIs. It’s not clear from the research how long this effect sticks around, but the burst of brain activity laughing triggers is undoubtedly potent, at least for short periods of time."

But Laughter also seems to release dopamine and other endorphins - it seems that although it increases serotonin it has remarkable positive benefits and I imagine the increase of dopamine helps control the serotonergic increase

I do notice that when my serotonin and dopamine are both high - I laugh a lot more but this does not happen when my serotonin is high by itself or when my dopamine is high by itself - it's in interesting thought and i think there is more at play


but what about this nitric oxide bit ? seems to be interesting

The results of many scientific studies on the effects of laughter have led most experts to agree that laughter can be remarkably therapeutic. For example, laughter and humor have been shown to increase tolerance to pain. Additionally, researchers in Japan have found that laughter lowered blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes by altering gene expression. Even more exciting are the findings on the cardiovascular benefits of mirthful laughter. In a recent study by researchers at the University of Maryland, researchers found that endorphins released by the brain in response to laughter cause the production of nitric oxide (NO), which then triggers a number of cardio-protective signaling processes responsible for not only vasodilation but also for reducing platelet aggregation and vascular inflammation. Laughter furthermore has been shown to have positive effects on the immune system. Professor Lee Berk from Loma Linda University reported that laughter increased the activity of several critical antibodies and natural killer cells, which are essential in anti-tumor defense. These studies represent only a small subset of the scientific literature attesting to the positive benefits of laughter. So laugh on, Yale!
 
Last edited:

Hans

Member
Forum Supporter
Joined
Aug 24, 2017
Messages
5,856
Many good things increase both serotonin and dopamine, but it's the ratio that's important. Too much serotonin causes apathy and anhedonia. If you feel good overall, the ratio is probably good.
The increase in NO isn't a problem, because it most likely only restores normal NO levels, and does not increase it to a pathological state. Similar to cocoa. Cocoa restores normal NO levels. Sunlight also promotes the release of NO, but it's not bad.
Endotoxin for example causes a pathological increase in NO.
 
OP
JamesGatz

JamesGatz

Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2021
Messages
3,189
Location
USA
Many good things increase both serotonin and dopamine, but it's the ratio that's important. Too much serotonin causes apathy and anhedonia. If you feel good overall, the ratio is probably good.
The increase in NO isn't a problem, because it most likely only restores normal NO levels, and does not increase it to a pathological state. Similar to cocoa. Cocoa restores normal NO levels. Sunlight also promotes the release of NO, but it's not bad.
Endotoxin for example causes a pathological increase in NO.
Ah this makes a lot of sense - I feel great when I laugh so I suspected maybe the dopamine was keeping the increase in check - this is very good to know because I was eating chocolate everyday and had heard of the nitric oxide increase for this as well
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom