Don't Laugh: Just Think About It

    摘要：If you're down in the dumps, you might just think about watching a funny movie. A new study suggests that the mere expectation of laughter makes us feel good.如果你的情绪陷入抑郁状态，怎么办？心理学家建议，这时的你可以试着想象一下正在看一部滑稽电影，因为，哪怕仅仅是对笑声的期待也会让我们的心情好受一些。

    If you're down in the dumps, you might just think about watching a funny movie. A new study suggests that the mere expectation of laughter makes us feel good.

    Researchers split people into two groups. One group was told they'd be watching a funny movie, the other was not.

    "Blood drawn from experimental subjects just before they watched the video had 27 percent more beta-endorphins and 87 percent more human growth hormone, compared to blood from the control group, which didn't anticipate the watching of a humorous video," explained Lee Berk of Loma Linda University.

    Berk said that combined with prior research into how laughter improves mood, the results "would appear to carry important, positive implications for wellness, disease-prevention and most certainly stress-reduction."

    The study was small, however, involving just 16 people.

    Levels of these known feel-good substances remained elevated during the video, which brought about what the researchers call "mirthful laughter," and for 12 to 24 hours afterward.

    The results, announced today, are being presented at an annual meeting called Experimental Biology convened by the American Physiological Society.

    如果你的情绪陷入抑郁状态，怎么办？心理学家建议，这时的你可以试着想象一下正在看一部滑稽电影，因为，哪怕仅仅是对笑声的期待也会让我们的心情好受一些。

    据美国“生活科学网”3月31日报道，美国加利福尼亚州洛玛林达大学的研究人员将16位被试分为两组，第一组被告知将看一部好玩儿的电影，第二组则没有被告知。负责此项研究的心理学家李·伯克说：“血液抽样调查显示，与第二组不知道要看电影的人相比，第一组被试在看电影之前，血液中氨多酚（一种会使人愉快的物质）的含量高出27％，生长激素含量高出87％。”

    伯克在美国心理学协会的实验生物学年会上说，与之前的有关笑声能改善情绪的研究结合起来看，这一结果“对于维持健康和防止疾病及减压等，似乎都具有重要的、正面的暗示”。报道说，在观看录像的过程中，人体内“让人感觉良好”的物质的水平依旧呈上升趋势，且在之后的12小时到24小时内依然保持着效果。