When feeling down, many people immediately think of watching a comedy to lift their spirits. A recent study has shown that simply anticipating the sight of smiles can significantly improve our mood.
Researchers divided volunteers into two groups. One group was asked to watch a funny comedy, while the other group was not.
“Blood samples taken from participants right before they watched the film contained over 27% more beta-endorphins and 87% more growth hormones compared to the control group – the group that did not watch any comedy,” said Lee Berk from Loma Linda University.
The levels of substances that induce feelings of excitement – leading to what researchers call “joyful smiles” – continued to rise during the film and for 12 to 24 hours afterward.
Berk noted that combined with previous studies indicating that smiling improves mood, these recent results “seem to carry important positive messages for disease prevention and stress reduction.”
However, the study was relatively small, involving only 16 participants.
T. An
