OBJECTIVE This study explored outcomes of Laughter Yoga in adults with Parkinson׳s disease (PD) and their caregivers. Laughter has been shown to generally improve mood in physically healthy adults, and specifically in adults with heart disease or cancer, but little research exists regarding the impact of laughter in adults with Parkinson׳s disease. Low mood is frequently a co-morbid condition f...

We have analyzed over 13000 bouts of laughter, in over 65 hours of unscripted, naturally occurring multiparty meetings, to identify discriminative contexts of voiced and unvoiced laughter. Our results show that, in meetings, laughter is quite frequent, accounting for almost 10% of all vocal activity effort by time. Approximately a third of all laughter is unvoiced, but meeting participants vary...

This article deals with a typology of 45 techniques of humor that I found when doing research on the mechanisms that generate humor in texts, lists the techniques and applies them to a Jewish joke. It references the work of Vladimir Propp on folktales as analogous in that both are concerned with mechanisms in text that generate meaning. It also deals with four theories about why people find tex...

We have analyzed over 13000 bouts of laughter, in over 65 hours of unscripted, naturally occurring multi-party meetings, to identify discriminative contexts of voiced and unvoiced laughter. Our results show that, in meetings, laughter is quite frequent, accounting for almost 10% of all vocal activity effort by time. Approximately a third of all laughter is unvoiced, but meeting participants var...

Objective: The purpose of this study was to measure the extent to which a hatha yoga practice would improve mood as compared to a seated meditation practice. Methods: This was an eighteen week, cross-over design study in which forty-four hatha yoga students, largely inexperienced with seated meditation, were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group started with an eight week practice o...

OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to observe the effect of controlled breathing exercises including Sudarshan Kriya (SK) and Prana-Yoga (PY) on the psycho-physiological status. METHODS The study group included 60 healthy volunteers (M:30, F:30) in the age group of 18 to 30 years (21.3 ± 3.2 yrs), randomly divided in to three groups of 20 subjects each--(1) The SK group (2) the PY group...

BACKGROUND Global population aging will result in increasing rates of cognitive decline and dementia. Thus, effective, low-cost, and low side-effect interventions for the treatment and prevention of cognitive decline are urgently needed. Our study is the first to investigate the effects of Kundalini yoga (KY) training on mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS Older participants (≥55 years o...

When we think of the word ‘‘contagious,’’ we often think of something negative, like the flu. But transmitted diseases aren’t the only thing that can quickly spread within a society—certain feelings, emotions, and behaviors can be easier to catch than the common cold. Does seeing others laugh or yawn make you want to do it too? You’re definitely not alone—‘‘behavioral contagion,’’ or the tenden...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of a six-week Vinyasa yoga (VY) intervention on caregivers' overall quality of life (QOL) and psychological distress. DESIGN A single-group, pre- and post-test pilot study. SETTING University public recreational facility. SAMPLE 12 informal caregivers for patients with cancer. METHODS Caregivers participated in a six-week VY intervention and comp...

This study investigated which features of AVATAR laughter are perceived threatening for individuals with a fear of being laughed at (gelotophobia), and individuals with no gelotophobia. Laughter samples were systematically varied (e.g., intensity, laughter pitch, and energy for the voice, intensity of facial actions of the face) in three modalities: animated facial expressions, synthesized audi...