Alternative Health Blog

Did you hear the one about...? Human laughter is so old, it's actually pre-human, a new study concludes. Researchers at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K. tickled two dozen young primates--gorillas, chimps, orangutans, bonobos, and three human babies--and recorded the 800-odd sounds that burst forth, as seen in The Week. An acoustical analysis revealed surprising similarities between the giggles and guffaws of the humans and those of the other primates. That suggests that laughter dates back 10 million to 16 million years, to the common ancestor from which humans and all great apes evolved.

"Our results on laughter indicate its pre-human basis" and suggest that the act of laughter was "hardwired into humans" by a distant ancestor, lead researcher Marina Davila Ross tells the London Daily Telegraph. The findings could have implications both for research into human emotions and for the management of primates in captivity and in the wild. Just like for humans, Ross says, the animals' laugher "seemed like an expression of joy." May you always be blessed with good health and happiness.