Polimeni's article (Week 1),Provine's article (Week 2),Panksepp and Essay

Polimeni's article (Week 1),Provine's article (Week 2),Panksepp and Burggdorf's article (3), Martin's article (4),Berger - Essay Example Provine’s article is a 30 year research on what he considered as the fundamental of behavior, the pillar of human nature. He followed the behavioral neuroscience route in his quest for search in laughter. He researched neurological mechanism that make muscle contractions and direct laughter behavior. He claimed that in the past research on laughter has established claims such as laughter helps people snap out of common cold, it increases creativity and even lifts depression. While these insights into laughter are welcome, Provine’s research was done more on tactical grounds. He felt that laughter presented him with significant â€Å"scientific leverage† that helped him address different related questions. One doesn’t fare any better than another person on the reasons behind which the laugh. Laughter and logic don’t go hand in hand. Logic fails when laughter says coming. Laughter speaks for itself through objective measurements and descriptions. We s hould not try to impose our designs or our logic on the cryptic message behind laughter. (Provine) Panksepp and Burdgoff’s article: This article is titled ‘‘Laughing’’ rats and the evolutionary antecedents of human joy? It begins with an insight into Paul MacLean’s concept of epistemic. The latter was a neuroscientifc study of a subjective experience. It required animal brain research that correlated with the internal experiences of humans. In this study robust relationships emanating out of affective processes and sub cortical brain systems has been discussed. The paper moves around a working hypothesis that justifies why rat vocalizations project a positive effect on evolutionary relations to the joyfulness of human childhood laughter that commonly accompanied social play. The study also discusses the neurobiological nature of human laughter. The importance of such lucid processes for understanding various clinical disorders has also been di scussed. Some of the these disorders include Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, addictive urges and mood imbalances. The research concluded that fundamental neural homologies between the laughing response of rodents and the playful laughter of children remain to be assessed. They cannot be evaluated accurately right now but may eventually be evaluated if one analyzes cross species contrasting of pharmacological manipulation. At present only limited data is available on the issue and there is little information to substantiate it. (Burgdorf) Rao Martin’s article: Martin’s article sums up the fact that humor is a universal human activity. It is experienced by many people during a typical and can be exercised in different contexts. The article presents evidence suggesting that humor and laughter are both evolutionary as far as their origin is concerned and offer their own kind of benefits. However, culture has an important role to play in the use and manipulation of humor in various circumstances. The context in which humor may be considered appropriate for laughter may vary in different situations. In the psychological context, humor is correlated with a positive emotion called mirth. Mirth is often spoken about in social context and is known to conceptualize vocal and emotional expression of laughter. Humor takes various forms in different situations. In social interactions it is named as canned jokes, spontaneous victim and unintentional funny utterances and actions. The article also explains the