Many people think that man is a special kind of animal. Only humans can laugh, but other animals can't. However, a recent study found that laughter and happiness are not the exclusive rights of human beings. Other animals not only laugh, but also have a much longer history than humans. This research result was published in the latest issue of Science. Laughter is not unique to human beings. Scientists have always been very concerned about human laughter, and the related research is also very in-depth. They found that when the human brain is in the stage of evolution, humans will laugh before learning to speak. Some people even assert that laughter is the characteristic that distinguishes human beings from other animals, and other animals can't laugh. Is this conclusion correct? The latest research found that laughter and happiness are not the exclusive rights of human beings. Even before humans began to laugh, other animals learned to laugh long ago. This means that animals actually laugh earlier than humans. Zach Panksepp, a professor of psychobiology at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, said that it is no accident that we humans laugh. Laughter is the result of long-term human evolution. In fact, human laughter comes from animals. Before human beings appeared, many animals not only learned to play, but also learned to laugh. Panksepp has been studying mice. He found that mice like to play and often make the most primitive laughter. He pointed out that after years of research, he came to the conclusion that animal laughter is the basis of human happiness. In the process of studying laughter, scientists mostly focus on issues related to laughter, such as humor, personality, healthy body and social theory, and Panksepp's research results on laughter itself immediately attracted great attention from the scientific community. Research shows that the "circuit" of laughter exists in every ancient area of human brain. Scientists pointed out that human beings first learned to play, and then they had language. In this process, those parts of the human brain responsible for happiness have new connections, and these parts have evolved before the cerebral cortex responsible for thinking and memory. In the early stage of children's development, the ability to laugh is revealed, and anyone who makes a baby laugh knows this. The latest evidence shows that many other mammals also make sounds when playing games, similar to human laughter. Therefore, some scientists believe that animals, like humans, have the ability to express a variety of emotions. Tecumseh Fetek, a lecturer in psychology at St Andrews University, said: "In fact, the animal brain controls pain, happiness, fear and desire just like the human brain. This understanding of neuroscientists once again shows that we humans are similar to other animals, and it is very important to realize this. " In a study in 2003, Panksepp and Jeff Bergdorf, a neurobiologist at Bowling Green State University, proved that if mice are tickled while playing, they will easily give out unique laughter (of course, they will not laugh like humans). If researchers often tease mice, mice can easily form conditioned reflex. Just tease it gently and it will laugh. Some mice were not even tickled, but when they saw the hands of people who wanted to tickle, they began to laugh. Think about the way you shake your fingers to tease children and make mice laugh. They say that understanding the laughter of mice may help scientists better understand the laughter of human beings. In a paper published in Science, Panksepp wrote: "Deciphering the mouse joke code is a very important goal for future research. Such knowledge can help us understand how the human brain controls laughter. " Robert provine, a professor of psychology at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, also believes that human laughter is the result of constant evolution, which comes from scratching and slapstick. Studying animal laughter helps to study human laughter. Provine once wrote a book, The Scientific Investigation of Laughter. Some scientists have found that there is a connection between their laughter like noise and human laughter by studying chimpanzees. Provine pointed out: "Literally, laughter is actually the sound made during the game. At first, it refers to the violent breathing action, that is, the body is playing, and later this action evolved into human' haha' laughter. " By studying the transition between chimpanzee panting and human "haha" laughter, scientists found that the key to the formation of human laughter and speech function is respiratory control. Many scientists believe that laughter and games in the brain come from instinct. If this argument is correct, then many instinctive behaviors of other animals can help researchers better understand consciousness and other characteristics of human beings. Provine said, "For example, our consciousness may be less than we think, and we may overestimate our consciousness and its influence on our lives. For laughter, it is not controlled by our consciousness. We can control our speech, but we can't control laughter. " Scientists believe that if they really understand human laughter, it is also possible to find ways to deal with depression and other unhealthy emotions. Background knowledge Panksepp is an animal who loves to laugh. He discovered the secret of mice laughing. So, can other animals laugh? Over the years, it has been observed that chimpanzees also laugh in their own unique way. Squid and even cuttlefish in the fish tank will "play" with people. They will swim to the surface of the sink and spray water on their owners for fun. On the other hand, dogs have proved that they like to laugh as much as their human friends who walk on two legs. Researchers have found that dogs make sounds equivalent to laughter when playing. This kind of sound is "breathing sound, heavy exhalation sound", and its tone is higher than that of ordinary dogs. It sounds like "Xi Xi Xi", but the vowels are extremely inconspicuous. In the experiments in parks and animal shelters, they played a recording of dogs laughing to 15 dogs. After hearing this, the dogs bowed their heads to other dogs in the room and made the so-called "playful bow" in dog behavior. Several dogs grabbed the ball and handed it to other dogs. Other dogs wrestle with each other or scratch their companions gently with their paws. Just like humans, happiness can spread from dog to dog. In nature, there are some animals that laugh like humans and primates. There is a kind of giant fish in the Mediterranean, swimming around, talking and laughing. There are many muscles around the swim bladder of this fish. When swimming, the muscles are in different contraction States, which will make people laugh. There is a laughing cow in Pamida, Guyana. It has a sound insulation film on its throat. In Niu Jiao, this kind of film vibrates violently, giving out "ha ha ha" laughter, so people call this kind of cow "ha ha cow" or "laughing cow" figuratively, and because they cry like an old man laughing, people also call it "laughing old man". There is a laughing bird living in the Australian forest, and the locals call it "Kukabala". This kind of bird is an expert in catching snakes. They have sharp mouths with hooks. When catching a snake, they first hold the snake in a tree with a hook, then throw the snake from the air and die, and then chew it slowly. They ate and laughed as if celebrating their victory. There is also a bird in the coniferous forest of Sweden, which has more than 10 feather fans, forming more than 10 pieces. When they fly, the air violently impacts the film on the fan, and the film will make a loud and cheerful sound like "laughter". This proves that laughter not only transcends race, culture and religion, but also constitutes an obstacle between species. Perhaps this is one of the important reasons why we love animals so much. They are not only loyal and sincere, but also very funny. References:
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