title: The social life of laughter.
abstract: Laughter is often considered to be the product of humour. However, laughter is a social emotion, occurring most often in interactions, where it is associated with bonding, agreement, affection, and emotional regulation. Laughter is underpinned by complex neural systems, allowing it to be used flexibly. In humans and chimpanzees, social (voluntary) laughter is distinctly different from evoked (involuntary) laughter, a distinction which is also seen in brain imaging studies of laughter.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL London, UK. Electronic address: sophie.scott@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sophie K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, UK.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lavan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL London, UK.
authors.forename: Sinead
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway University of London, UK.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McGettigan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007845:Laughter / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D002679:Pan troglodytes; D012919:Social Behavior; D012938:Social Perception; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D014836:Volition
keywords: conversation; emotion; laughter; motor control; voice