The science behind laughter, crying and stress

Dr. Wahied Khawar Balwan
Our thoughts, intentions, decisions and actions are guided by our emotions. Emotions cause the human body to release various hormones that affect our mood, and these biological messengers are responsible for regulating the normal functioning of tissues and organs, especially the human brain. There is a scientific interaction between our emotions and the hormones released. Positive and negative emotions essentially need to be channeled in different situations and age groups of human life. This can only be done if you are familiar with the scientific story behind our emotions.
Wengerzell defines emotions as “a mental state that does not occur in free will and is often achieved by physiological changes.” Our emotions certainly serve as a delicate and sophisticated internal guidance system at every moment of our lives. When we feel lonely, we need the company as needed by our emotions. When you feel anxious, you need to be guided by your feelings, and when you feel sad, you need to be comforted according to your emotional needs. Goleman’s 1995 book on emotional intelligence showed the importance of our emotions to survival, decision-making, predictive behavior, demarcation, communication, happiness, unity, and more. Our brain is the controlling authority of our emotions. Hormones are one of the key elements that function in a variety of situations to produce specific patterns of emotional behavior.
We always believe that hormones control our emotions. But vice versa, emotions control hormones through biochemical changes in the brain. The problems of laughter, anger, crying, and stress cause the release of these chemicals and hormones to maintain balance in the body. This article aims to summarize some of the hormonal changes associated with these four emotions, as well as the associated scientific facts.
Laugh
Mark Twain once said, “Humanity has only one really active weapon, and that’s a laugh.”
Laughter is a complex process in our body and involves complex activities in the brain. There are various theories that emphasize the causes of our laughter. According to relief theory, we need to release our emotions through laughter. Incongruity Theory explains that we laugh when our logic doesn’t match the situation or the joke. This affects the basic principles of comedians. When he or she makes a joke, the audience tries to understand the same. It makes them laugh at the end when the latter notices that the consistency of jokes does not match their logical expectations. Good theory is another theory of laughter. This means when you think you are better than someone else and laugh at their ignorance and mistakes.
Comedians laugh 46% more than their listeners, according to Robert Provine, a psychologist and neuroscientist at the University of Maryland. It is based on their subconscious idea that if they laugh, the audience is also likely to laugh. This makes the speaker more comfortable while playing. Laughing releases healthy hormones. Endorphins and interferon gamma (IFN) are two important things in the cocktail. Endorphins are released from the pituitary gland. Endo means endogenous and olphin means morphine. These are endogenous opioid peptides and, like morphine secreted in our body, have no side effects. Endorphins act as natural painkillers. When these are released in our body, we feel happy and calm. But endorphins remain in our blood for a few seconds. They also protect us from stress, high blood pressure, depression, enhance our memory and keep us healthy and cheerful. Interferon gamma activates our body’s T cells, B cells, immunoglobulins, and NK cells. It helps fight the virus, strengthens the immune system, and regulates cell growth.
About 2000 years ago, Dr. Galen said cheerful women were less likely to have cancer than women with depression. Laughter can reduce serum levels of cortisol, dopac, epinephrine, and growth hormone, according to a 1989 study. Cortisol is commonly called a stress hormone. When it recognizes a threat or tension, it is released by the adrenal glands.
When we laugh, we make gestures and sounds, and the facial muscles contract. A 2010 study published in the FASEB journal reported that our body responds similarly to repetitive laughter and repetitive exercise.
Is crying
Tears play an important role in our biological and social experience. In the words of cultural historian Thomas Dixon, “Tears are intellectual. They are created by both thoughts and lacrimal glands.” Shakespeare said, “crying is to reduce sadness.”
Tears are an advanced form of excretion in our body. They can be divided into three types: basal tears, reflex tears, and emotional tears.
Basal tears continue to form. They are secreted by the lacrimal glands under the upper eyelids. Each time you blink, a basal tear spreads over the surface of the eyeball. It causes eye lubrication and prevents our eyes from drying out. Basal tears consist of water, small mucus (which allows it to attach to the surface of the eye), nutrients, glucose, lysozyme (antibacterial enzyme), lipocalin (protein transporter), urea, potassium, sodium. .. These tears travel through the lacrimal duct to the nose, moistening the nose and controlling bacterial infections. The human body produces an average of 5-10 ounces of basal tears each day. Basal tears are not called crying. They are shown simply as secretions of tear fluid. When these secretions overwhelm the drainage capacity of the lacrimal duct, it is called the weeping process. Reflexive and emotional tears are commonly considered in the crying process.
Our body has a unique process that removes toxins and excess stress hormones. Emotional tears release stress and tension and serve as one of these processes to wash toxic chemicals out of the body. Humans are considered the only creatures that shed emotional tears. But Charles Darwin pointed out in an “expression of human and animal emotions” that the zoo owner told him about an elephant weeping in sadness. Dr. Willian Frey, a biochemist and tear specialist, studied the composition of our tears and concluded that emotional tears contain stress hormones in contrast to basal and reflex tears. .. When emotionally crying is recorded in the brain, the brain causes the release of hormones that are transmitted to the glands (eye areas) behind our eyes, causing emotional tears. Emotional tears consist primarily of three chemicals: leucine encephalin-an endorphin that enhances mood and reduces pain, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-a hormone released during stress, and mammalian. Contains a hormone that regulates milk production-prolactin. Emotional tears have 24% higher protein levels than reflex tears. According to the Journal of Social and Clinical psychology, crying has its own benefits. We felt better after a loud scream. Manganese is involved in regulating our mood, and people with depression have higher levels of manganese in their system. Emotional tears remove concentrated manganese from the body because it contains 30 times more manganese than serum.
In the words of stress physiologist Hans Sally, “stress in the body’s non-specific response to its demands”. We usually associate stress with negative situations. But when there is no stress in our lives, we cannot cope with the challenges of our lives. The optimal positive stress level prevailing in an individual is called you stress, while harmful stress is known as distress. Stress is commonly defined as time pressure. Individuals are frustrated when not enough time is available to perform their scheduled tasks. However, this definition does not apply to all. In fact, stress represents a highly personalized experience and does not depend solely on the pressure of time.
Stress involves the release of a wide range of hormones. These are the two major classes of stress hormones, catecholamines (adrenaline and noradrenaline) and glucocorticoids (cortisol). Whenever a stressful situation occurs, the brain sends a message to the adrenal gland, which either escapes or releases combat. Adrenaline. When the muscles get tense, the heart begins to pound, breathing faster, and sweating begins. This is adrenaline. Another hormone, norepinephrine, is released by the adrenal glands. It makes us more awake and focused during stress. Therefore, you may fall into insomnia during stress. Cortisol is another stress steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands. Cortisol is released in a multistep process. First, the brain’s Amigdale recognizes stressful situations. It then sends a message to the hypothalamus to release corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH).
CRH causes the release of corticotropin (ACTH) from the pituitary gland. This hormone then triggers the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. Optimal levels of cortisol help maintain fluid balance and blood pressure. It also helps regulate reproductive activity, proper glucose metabolism, blood pressure regulation, immunity, digestion and growth. However, higher cortisol levels reduce the immune system, blood pressure, and glucose levels. It causes obesity and reduces bone density. Prolonged stress exposure causes complete impaired reproductive function and also affects thyroid secretions. Different people have different levels of cortisol secretion. People who secrete more cortisol tend to eat more carbohydrate-rich foods than people who secrete less cortisol. Another study reported that endorphins play an important role in response to stress and adrenocorticotropic hormone function. A study presented at the 2007 Society for Neuroscience conference reported that the hormone oxytocin has important effects under stressful conditions.
(Author is a Senior Associate Professor in the Faculty of Zoology, Government Degree (PG) College Bardawa, J&K)