Researchers from the University of Wisconsin have found that there is a direct link between feelings and the immune system: optimism strengthens the immune defenses. A specific brain region, the prefrontal cortex, influences defenses. What’s more, people who laugh a lot boost the body’s own hormone production, hormones that reduce stress and ease pain. Why laughter is so healthy.
Emotions influence the immune system
“You sure got better fast,” the doctor praises his patient. “Yes, I also strictly followed what was written on the medicine bottle.” – “And what did it say?”-“Keep the bottle tightly closed.” Now if you smiled a little, you could record this brain activity.
When it comes to positive emotions like happiness, laughter, or enthusiasm, the cerebral cortex just behind the forehead, the prefrontal cortex, is heavily involved. For the first time, scientists have shown how the immune system is affected by emotions.
More antibodies when mood is positive
Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin did this in 52 subjects. His study, reported in the American journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, proves that there is a direct link between the positive feelings and the immune response.
The test subjects, women between the ages of 57 and 60, had to report either their worst or their happiest experience and write about it for five minutes. The researchers recorded the activity patterns in the women’s brains before and afterward. And found that the positive experiences activated the left part of the prefrontal cortex, while the negative feelings activated the right part.
Subsequently, all participants received a flu vaccination. Over a period of six months, the doctors monitored the subjects’ antibodies: Indeed, the women who had written down the positive experiences and whose left part of the cortex was more active had more antibodies in their blood than the subjects with the negative experiences.
Endorphins – the body’s own drugs for happiness and against pain
“He who smiles three times in the morning, does not frown at noon and sings loudly in the evening will live to be a hundred and twenty years old.” This truism from the vernacular can be proven by numerous scientific studies.
For example, it is known that the body is capable of producing hormones that weaken or suppress certain nerve impulses, such as pain. These endorphins act like morphine. Joggers know this: after running for a long time, a feeling of happiness sets in, pain and exertion are forgotten. The body also releases the happiness hormones when dancing, meditating or imagining a situation that makes you happy.
Laughter therapy in the hospital
In some hospitals, especially in pediatrics, doctors specifically use “laughter therapy” to relieve young patients’ fear of procedures. It has also been scientifically proven that laughing patients need less pain medication.
So in addition to exercise and lots of movement in fresh air, positive thinking, laughing and singing, everyone can do something for their health – and perhaps keep many a medicine bottle closed!
