Laughter Helps Fight Memory Loss in Elderly, Study

Humor and laughter help elderly people battle against memory loss, a new study reveals.

Earlier research has shown that excess stress harms a person's mind, body and mood.  As people age they become more vulnerable to a variety of health problems like blood pressure, cardiac problems and diabetes.  A recent study showed how the stress hormone cortisol negatively affects memory and learning ability in seniors.

The current study led by researchers at Loma Linda University investigated the association between cortisol and memory and whether laughter known to be a stress reliever helps lower the damage caused by cortisol.

For this study researcher Gurinder Singh Bains conducted a study on a group of older adults. As a part of the study he showed a 20 minute laugh-inducing funny video to a group of healthy older adults and a group of seniors with diabetes.

"Our research findings offer potential clinical and rehabilitative benefits that can be applied to wellness programs for the elderly," Dr. Bains said. "The cognitive components -- learning ability and delayed recall -- become more challenging as we age and are essential to older adults for an improved quality of life: mind, body, and spirit. Although older adults have age-related memory deficits, complimentary, enjoyable, and beneficial humor therapies need to be implemented for these individuals."

After watching the 20-minute video, the participants were made to complete a memory test that measured their learning, recall and sight recognition.  The performance of these participants was later compared to a group of healthy individuals who were given the same memory test but did not watch the 20-minute video.

Before and after the experiment, the levels of cortisol in both the groups were measured.

The researchers noticed that the group, which was showed the 20 minute laugh inducing video, experienced a drop in stress hormone cortisol. Apart from this, they also displayed a greater improvement in areas of memory assessment compared to the group of controls.

The most significant benefit was seen among the group of seniors with diabetes. And the other healthy elders noticed a significant change in memory test scores.

Study co-author and long-time psychoneuroimmunology humor researcher, Dr. Lee Berk added, "It's simple, the less stress you have the better your memory. Humor reduces detrimental stress hormones like cortisol that decrease memory hippocampal neurons, lowers your blood pressure, and increases blood flow and your mood state...."

He explains that laughter enhances the release of endorphins and dopamine in the brain that offer a sense of pleasure and reward. It is a neurochemical change that enhances the functioning of the immune system.

The finding was presented on Sunday, April 27, at the Experimental Biology meeting.