Laughter Increases Memory And Learning Ability In Elderly People

Credit: Wikipedia

Before It's News: Watching a funny video increased memory, learning ability in elderly people. 

Too much stress can take its toll on the body, mood, and mind. As we age it can contribute to a number of health problems, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Recent research has shown that the stress hormone cortisol damages certain neurons in the brain and can negatively affect memory and learning ability in the elderly. 

Researchers at Loma Linda University have delved deeper into cortisol’s relationship to memory and whether humor and laughter—a well-known stress reliever—can help lessen the damage that cortisol can cause. Their findings were presented on Sunday, April 27, at the Experimental Biology meeting (San Diego Convention Center from 12:45–3:00 PM PDT).

Gurinder Singh Bains et al. showed a 20-minute laugh-inducing funny video to a group of healthy elderly individuals and a group of elderly people with diabetes. The groups where then asked to complete a memory assessment that measured their learning, recall, and sight recognition. Their performance was compared to a control group of elderly people who also completed the memory assessment, but were not shown a funny video. Cortisol concentrations for both groups were also recorded at the beginning and end of the experiment.

The research team found a significant decrease in cortisol concentrations among both groups who watched the video. Video-watchers also showed greater improvement in all areas of the memory assessment when compared to controls, with the diabetic group seeing the most dramatic benefit in cortisol level changes and the healthy elderly seeing the most significant changes in memory test scores.

“Our research findings offer potential clinical and rehabilitative benefits that can be applied to wellness programs for the elderly,” Dr. Bains said. “The cognitive components—learning ability and delayed recall—become more challenging as we age and are essential to older adults for an improved quality of life: mind, body, and spirit. Although older adults have age-related memory deficits, complimentary, enjoyable, and beneficial humor therapies need to be implemented for these individuals.”

Study co-author and long-time psychoneuroimmunology humor researcher, Dr. Lee Berk, added, “It’s simple, the less stress you have the better your memory. Humor reduces detrimental stress hormones like cortisol that decrease memory hippocampal neurons, lowers your blood pressure, and increases blood flow and your mood state.

The act of laughter—or simply enjoying some humor—increases the release of endorphins and dopamine in the brain, which provides a sense of pleasure and reward. These positive and beneficial neurochemical changes, in turn, make the immune system function better. There are even changes in brain wave activity towards what’s called the “gamma wave band frequency”, which also amp up memory and recall. So, indeed, laughter is turning out to be not only a good medicine, but also a memory enhancer adding to our quality of life.” 

Contacts and sources: 

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)

Technorati Tags: Laughter,Memory,Elderly,Seniors

Laughter Is The Best Medicine

Video: JK Wedding Entrance Dance

ScienceDaily (Jan. 26, 2008) — Laughter is the best medicine. We’ve heard the expression time and again. For decades, researchers have explored how humor helps patients relieve stress and heal. Melissa B. Wanzer, EdD, professor of communication studies at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY, has taken it one step further, with her research on how humor helps medical professionals cope with their difficult jobs. She also looked at how humor affects the elderly and how it can increase communication in the workplace and in the classroom.

She wondered, how do health care providers care for terminally ill people and manage to come back to work each day? So she asked them, in large-scale studies. Their answer? Humor. Wanzer has found humor to be beneficial in other areas as well.

“If employees view their managers as humor-oriented, they also view them as more effective,” notes Wanzer. “Employees also reported higher job satisfaction when they worked for someone who was more humor-oriented and used humor effectively and appropriately.” Wanzer and her colleagues found that humor is an effective way to cope with on-the-job stress – again, when used appropriately.

Wanzer also recently collaborated on research that found aging adults who used humor more frequently reported greater coping efficacy, which led to greater life satisfaction. This was the third study she conducted, with three different populations, where the conclusion was the same.

But what if you don’t consider yourself to be particularly funny? Wanzer says that while you can’t change your personality, you can find ways to integrate humor into your day-to-day life and change your communication patterns.

“Self-disparaging humor, making fun of oneself, is a very effective form of humor communication, as long as it is not done excessively,” says Wanzer, who adds that telling jokes is just a small portion of humor communication.

“I also tell people to use what is around them; ‘props can be humorous too, so long as they are used appropriately and are not perceived as distracting.”

Wanzer teaches a course in “Constructive Uses of Humor,” at Canisius College, which always fills to capacity. Students are required to prepare and perform a stand-up routine in front of the class. But the class is not all fun and games. Students read through journal articles and interpret factual studies on humor. One such case involves Southwest Airlines’ strategic effort to integrate humor into the workplace, in order to create a positive environment for employees and customers.

Wanzer’s research also shows that students report learning more from teachers who use humor effectively.

“Regardless of the content, humor seems to be beneficial and productive,” says Wanzer about the importance of the constructive uses of humor. “It helps to get the point across in about in almost any situation.”

Wanzer’s findings have been published in multiple journals, including Communication Quarterly, Communication Research Reports, Communication Education, Health Communication and Journal of Health Communication.

EYE CHART... For Old Men..

Sorry!! I Couldn’t Help Myself… and for those of you senior dudes scrambling for the zoom-in function on your computer, let me end with on of my favorite phrases… “No Fool Like An Old Fool!!!”

I’m looking for a Scott Brown Eye Chart for us ole Gals… ;-)

The Cheapest Medicine... and the Best

When I was eleven, my friend Rocky Wagner came over for a sleepover.

You can't really get into too much trouble when you're eleven. (That comes later.) But we did our best anyway. We raided the kitchen. We snuck out the window. We got into my parents' Cold Duck. (Not bad.)

Around 2 a.m., however, my Mom startled me when she flicked on the hallway light just as we were creeping in the front door and I spilled a bucket of tadpoles in the foyer.

Exactly why I was carrying a bucket of tadpoles around at two in the morning eludes me now. But I vividly recall a couple hundred of them wriggling around on the floor - and that my mother was not amused.

At least, she wasn't then. Now, apparently, it was hilarious. She practically tears up every time she tells this story. And she remembers every detail. ("They were pollywogs, not tadpoles.")

Funny how time changes our perceptions.

My friend Rodney, for example, has a foot that is badly scarred. When he was walking to school in first grade, a woman driving by ran over it. Aware that she had hit something, she backed up to get a better look and ran over it again. She then got out of the car, set Rodney on the side of the road, and sped off.

You hear this story and want to be appalled. But you can't. Because the way Rodney tells it - with his hangdog expression and deadpan delivery - you end up busting a gut instead.

If we only knew how we'd look back on our troubles someday, maybe we could laugh at them now.

As the British poet Samuel Butler said, "A sense of humor keen enough to show a man his own absurdities, as well as those of other people, will keep him from the commission of all sins, or nearly all, save those that are worth committing."

Science is proving that laughter really is the best medicine. A recent study done at the University of Maryland Medical Center shows a good laugh can lower your blood pressure, protect your heart, improve brain functioning, elevate your mood and reduce stress.

Laughter is a workout for your diaphragm, as well as your respiratory and facial muscles. It tones intestinal functioning and strengthens the muscles that hold the abdominal organs in place. (Who couldn't use that?)

Hearty laughter can even burn calories equivalent to several minutes on the rowing machine or exercise bike.

And the alternative? As Henry Ward Beecher said, "A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs - jolted by every pebble in the road."

Moreover, studies show that distressing emotions - anger, anxiety, stress, depression - are often related to heart disease. The quickest relief - cheap, effective and readily available - is a good laugh.

Laughter relaxes us, connects us to others, and enhances our ability to fight disease.

So lighten up. Yes, the economy is bad. You may have more than your fair share of personal problems, too. But as George Bernard Shaw pointed out, "The world does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh."

If the folks in your household aren't exactly filled with mirth right now, try renting an antic movie like "Arthur," "Airplane!" or "Young Frankenstein." (Sorry, my humor isn't terribly highbrow.)

If you're a reader, let me recommend "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid" by Bill Bryson, "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris, or "Carry On, Jeeves" by the master himself, P.G. Wodehouse - all guaranteed to elicit great gales of laughter.

Stand-up comics can also provide welcome relief when life starts feeling like one damned thing after another.

You can check out a local comedy club or catch a great comic on video. Some of my favorites are Rita Rudner ("My grandmother buried three husbands - and two of them were just napping"), Steven Wright ("I spilled spot remover on my dog. Now he's gone"), Gary Shandling ("They say oysters improve your sex life, but it hasn't worked for me. Maybe I'm putting them on too soon") and Jeff Foxworthy ("Changing a diaper is kinda like opening a birthday present from your grandmother. You never know what's inside but you're pretty sure you're not gonna like it").

Humor is a powerful, emotional medicine. It lowers stress, dissolves anger and unites families. More importantly, it reminds us that our troubles may not be as earthshaking as they appear.

As the Zen monk Shunryu Suzuki said, "When you can laugh at yourself, there is enlightenment."

Carpe Diem,  Alex Green/SpiritualWeatlth

Top Anti-Aging Factors

"The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years."
…Deepak Chopra, Indian doctor and mind/body/spirit author

 

If you're like most people, you've probably visited one of those websites that computes your true age. For example, a 35-year-old person who smokes, lives on junk food, works 80 hours a week, and rides a motorcycle may project a true age of around 55. But there's far more that those sites don't compute: your love of life, your thoughts, your relationships, your passions, your energy, your belief system. 

 

Some Top Anti-Aging Factors

 

 Healthy Eating and Weight Control

 

Regular Exercise

 

Stress Moderation Including Some Laughter and Fun

 

Continued Personal Growth and Plans for the Future

 

 A Positive Belief System Including A Passion For Something Greater Than Yourself

 

All Things In Moderation, Except Smoking… Time To Quit!