Laughter. Humans of all ages do it, but why? And in that same breath, they also say that laughter is contagious, but it seems that so too is a yawn. Why do we perform these seemingly unnecessary functions and how do they impact our relationships? Those are the questions we are answering today on Hello from the Van. Let's start with the laughter. A baby as young as three months old can do it. It is universal. Every culture and language has laughter. Animals do it, like chimpanzees have been known to laugh together in groups, but again, why do we do it? We wouldn't die if we never laughed again, but what does it do for us? Would you be surprised to know that scientists have done a lot of research over a lot of years about the science of laughter? And in all of that research, they have discovered that we are 30 times more likely to laugh if we are with someone else than if we are on our own. Scientists have also discovered that we laugh most when we can see and hear someone, even if it's on a computer, compared to just voiced or text interactions. We also know that laughter is highly behaviorally contagious, meaning if one person does it, you can't help but join in. And finally, one of the most interesting facts about laughter is that we laugh more than we know that we do. Scientists have studied over and over and over again rates of laughter and found that people regularly underreport how much they are laughing in their everyday lives. If asked, when did you laugh? you might just say, oh well, you know, when I heard a funny joke. When, under observation, we've discovered that people laugh at a lot of things. Situations, their own thoughts, other people's conversations. We laugh a lot more than we are aware of. It's been said that laughter is the best medicine. However, scientists know that it takes more than just a little giggle to heal a lot of situations. But why is laughter is the best medicine an old adage? Because before a lot of painkillers, laugh was a great way to deal with tension, pain, and stress. Laughter triggers the brain to release endorphins. These are the body's natural feel-good chemicals, and they can temporarily relieve pain. Laughter also improves blood vessel function and blood flow, protecting your heart, temporarily lowering blood pressure. And according to a February 2026 study, laughter is actually very, very good for you. Here are some benefits of laughter. Laughter relaxes your whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension, stress, and leaves your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after a good laugh. Laughter boosts your immune system. Yep, that's right. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases your immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease. Laughter, as we've said before, triggers the relief of endorphins. These are the chemicals in your brain and in your body that help you feel good, happy, at peace, and healthy. Other physical effects of laughter, it lightens anger's heavy load. Nothing diffuses anger and conflict faster than a shared laugh. Studies have found that when tensions are high, a good hearty laugh by everyone involved can help relieve tension and ease confrontations. And finally, laughter may help you live longer. A study in Norway found that people with a strong sense of humor outlived those who don't laugh as much. The difference was particularly notable for those battling cancer. So those are the physical benefits of laughter. It boosts immunity, lowers our stress, decreases pain, relaxes our muscles, it helps prevent heart disease. It's actually very healthy to laugh and to laugh regularly. But what about the social side of laughter? Why do we tend to laugh in groups and why do our laughs change when we are around those that we love and trust? Evolutionarily speaking, laughter is a signal of connection and it plays an important part in human survival. Upon meeting a stranger, we want to know do you have bad intentions for me? Are you going to hurt me? Are you a good person? Are you a good witch or a bad witch? Well, laughter is one of the ways that we determine that. Laughter serves a social function. It's a way for us to signal to each other that we wish to connect in a positive way. In fact, in a study of thousands of examples of laughter, the speakers in a conversation were found to be 46% more likely to laugh than the listeners. And to round it out, here are some other interesting facts about laughter. Other animal species can laugh, each in their own way. Laughing creates bonds between those doing the laughing. While all cultures and languages laugh, each culture is unique in what they find funny. I personally have lived all over the world, and while I was living in Eastern Europe, I was shocked to know that they don't use sarcasm in everyday speech. This was shocking to me as I made a sarcastic comment, and then everyone looked at me and I realized that the joke did not land because sarcasm does not translate. The sound of your individual laughter is part genetics, part the way you grow up, and your own personal preferences. And finally, your laughter can change throughout your life. So that's what we know about laughter, but what about the other shared experience? Yawning. Why are we all yawning together? And what if you're all laughing and yawning and yawning and laughing some more? What's that all about? Well, there has been a lot of research about yawning. I am sad to report that there is no clear conclusive reasoning for yawning and why yawns are contagious. First of all, what is physically happening when we yawn? It's a breath in and a rapid exhale. While a yawn might seem like a simple way to bring more oxygen into our bodies, it's actually a very complex physiological action. The physical act of yawning is a group project between your brain, your muscles, your hormones, and your neural pathways. Parts of your brain called the hypothalamus and the brainstem serve as the central hubs for initiating yawning, with neurotransmitters or hormones like dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin helping the process. Basically, the physical act of yawning is a manifestation of what is neurologically happening in your brain. It's kind of like when you're sad or in pain, you'll cry and you will cry physical tears. Well, when your brain is flooded with a certain combination of chemicals, the result is a physical yawn. The group effort between motor pathways and nerves of your brain is a physical yawn. It used to be that most people thought that yawning came first and then the release of hormones came as a result of the physical action of yawning. New research is showing that it's actually the other way around. Those chemicals that I talked about, oxytocin, serotonin, flood your brain first and then you yawn. But if it's all based on chemicals and hormones, why, when I see someone else yawn, do I suddenly yawn? Well, before we get to that, we need to talk about the history of yawn research. It's a lot. While there are new studies about yawning, I wanted to get to the bottom of how long humans have been talking about this phenomenon. I did a lot of digging. There are writings dating all the way back to the 1600s that talk about theories and research around yawning. There are scholarly papers written in the 18 and 1900s that we still have access to today that talk about yawning and theories around it. Humans have been fascinated by the yawn for hundreds, if not thousands of years. In the late 20th century, studies demonstrated that contagious yawning is not only observed in humans, but also in other social animals, such as chimpanzees and dogs, suggesting an evolutionary basis for the behavior. Much like laughter, it's something that brings us together and shows safety. The theory is basically that yawning is contagious because it helps us show social bonding and empathy. Oh, you're tired or you're having these emotions, I will have them too. Culturally, yawning has been interpreted in a lot of different ways. In some African cultures, yawning is seen as a sign of disrespect if done in public. While in other countries, it is believed to signify the presence of evil spirits or the opposite. It's a way to ward evil spirits off. In Western societies, yawning is often associated with boredom or tiredness, and social norms dictate that one should cover their mouth when yawning to show politeness. Now, before we go, I need to make it known for the record that I have yawned no less excuse me. No less than 100 times in the days that I have been prepping this episode. Between the research, recording, and editing phases of this episode, it has been a nonstop yawn fest. I have not even been tired, but I cannot keep myself from yawning. I even tried working on this episode at different times of the day to see if that would help with the sheer volume of yawning that I have been doing while reading, recording, and editing. It has not helped. So while it might be anecdotal, meaning just my experience, I swear that there has got to be something to the mere mention of a yawn and the way that our bodies react. And with that, I'm Mimi Fotz, and this has been another episode of that.