Laughter is a universal sign of happiness and joy. Laughter
means you are enjoying the moment and it makes you feel good. We all enjoy
having a good laugh and usually feel better afterward without truly
understanding why. There are actual physical changes that laughter causes in
the human body. One of the changes, a recent study discovered, is improved
memory for senior adults.
The Effects of
Laughter on the Brain
A recent study conducted at California's Loma Linda
University indicated that when a group of elderly test subjects laughed, their
recognition and memory improved and their laughter actually helped them
remember those enjoyable moments. Two
groups of subjects were studied to determine the levels of cortisol in their
brains. Cortisol is a stress hormone
that can cause brain damage if too much of it collects over time.
One group of seniors watched a funny 20-minute long video.
The other did not. The results found that the cortisol levels were much lower
in the group of seniors who watched the video than the cortisol levels of the
control group that did not. Lower cortisol levels result in less impact on the
brain from stress, and thus, on memory. The seniors who laughed remembered the
experience in more detail.
Laughter also has the pleasant effect of releasing
endorphins, which chemically produce the good feelings we get when we laugh and
are happy. Laughter has been thought
through the ages to have healing properties for all age groups so laughter
literally is one of the best medicines. It can also decrease the risk of
developing mental illness.
Indications for
Elderly Care Services
Those offering home care services should
consider the possible applications of this information in the services you
offer all your clients and in the training that you provide to your home care
providers. Bringing some laughter to your senior clients could easily become a
goal of your services. Considering its beneficial effects on memory and
emotional outlook, it should easily become a requirement.
Providing DVDs of funny movies, taking seniors on trips to
the movies and going to see a professional comedian perform are all ideas to
consider. Even something as simple as having your home care givers teach
seniors with a computer how to watch funny cat videos on YouTube during in-home
care sessions will bring laughter to their lives.
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