Adult laughter is equally complex. A previous study into the meaning of laughter in adults concluded that it is an evolutionary response to something confusing or unexpected. It's a powerful "all clear" signal to ourselves and others that a potential threat is actually harmless.

Building on this research, the latest study focuses on laughter in children and babies and has found that it is closely linked to brain and personality development: children laugh for very different reasons at different stages of development, long before they can understand abstract concepts such as word games or even language.

The evolutionary benefits of laughter

Laughter derives from our subconscious ability to understand and judge the incongruities in a joke or action: it is our response to an instant transition between amazement and resolution.

Thus, laughter in adults signals the passage of threat or fear, both for ourselves and for those around us. That's why children - and many adults - laugh on rollercoasters or in similar situations: instead of crying with fear, they move from astonishment and terror to resolution. Laughter is the sign of this passage.

Several studies show that this process is the mechanism behind successful comedy, especially physical comedy. The French philosopher Henri Bergson proposed and explained this mechanism in 1900 in relation to slapstick: "The laughable element ... consists in a certain mechanical inelasticity, precisely where one would expect to find the alert adaptability and lively flexibility of a human being."

Babies learn how to laugh

Laughter begins shortly after birth. Babies learn to laugh because they want to imitate their parents and receive their approval. This is how babies initially learn everything: by imitating and receiving the approval of the adults around them.

But as they grow up, babies break out of the symbiosis with their parents that characterizes the first few months of life. They learn to distinguish themselves from their parents and from the world around them. Once they begin to behave independently - from the age of 2 to 5 - they begin to experience a new sensation for the first time: certain things can seem cold, strange or out of place, and this shocks, confuses and amazes them.

This is where laughter comes in: after a moment's hesitation, they understand that what seemed frightening or unexpected is actually harmless.

For example, a child laughs when he sees his father wearing a fake clown nose. Why? Because for a brief moment they feel ashamed: that nose is not a "living nose". When they understand that it was just a joke from their father, they calm down and laugh. They can also laugh when their older brother makes a funny face, and the process is the same: amazement, reassurance, laughter.

Understanding logic allows children to understand jokes

From the age of 5 or 6, children learn to deal with abstract concepts, which means they can understand jokes. This happens when they overcome the previous stage of egocentrism, which prevents them from understanding the reasoning of others.

At this stage, laughter arises with the same criteria as adults, that is, to disapprove of what they consider cold and false, not only in other people, but also in their reasoning processes. This mental process forms the basis of a good punchline to a joke: incongruity, amazement and resolution.

These three stages in the development of laughter - imitation and approval, amazement, disapproval - are good indicators of a child's mental growth and development.

Parents' laughter can help babies develop

The laughter of parents, as well as babies, is important for development, but why do parents instinctively laugh at their babies? It's easy to understand why a mother or father would smile happily at their baby, but laughter is more complex.

Looking at their child, a parent can't help but have a moment of bewilderment: babies are strange by nature because they resemble adults, but they don't speak or behave like them. This momentary astonishment lasts a split second before being immediately overcome: it's just your beloved baby!

This should encourage all parents to engage in laughter with their babies, not to feel embarrassed or scared, and to be their "laughter buddy". Such interactions can improve babies' behavior and well-being - laughter is a proven ally of our immune system - and help them develop a natural and healthy relationship with this complex human response.

ZAP //