BY DR. ROOPA CHARI, M.D.
Oct 6th, 2013
Believe it or not, laughing has many great health and wellness benefits that are similar to exercising. It even has brain boosting powers including increasing memory, focus, concentration and even test scores in school! Remember how good it feels to have a good hearty laugh that you can’t control? It is literally contagious. How does laughing improve our brain function? Scientists in studies at Stanford in 2003 say it has to do with the way laughter stimulates the brain’s reward center.
In other words the same areas of the brain that get triggered with chocolate also get triggered with laughter! Studies show this “reward circuit” then releases a brain chemical called dopamine, which then stimulates the frontal lobe of our brain. The frontal lobe of our brain is critical for important mental tasks and memory.
Studies have shown that laughing also literally helps people see the big picture of any complex task because of how it positively affects the brain. This can help with kids in school, business owners, executives and basically everyone!
In fact studies show the more we laugh while we are learning important material, the better we will remember it. Who knew learning could really be fun!
Stay tuned for a more detailed explanation of how laughter helps your boost your brain power in the next article!
About Dr. Roopa Chari, M.D.: "Dr. Roopa Chari is a medical doctor in Internal Medicine and her brother Deepak Chari is an Engineer and Certified Biofeedback Specialist at The Chari Center of Health, an advanced integrative medical center in Encinitas, CA. * Sign up for a FREE 15 minute holistic medical consult with Dr. Chari and/or a FREE 30 minute Stress & Anxiety Relief session with Advanced Voice Biofeedback with Deepak Chari here or call (760) 230-2711."