@book {1743,
	title = {Laughter: A Scientific Investigation},
	year = {2001},
	pages = {258},
	publisher = {Penguin Books},
	organization = {Penguin Books},
	address = {New York},
	abstract = {<p>The first comprehensive, scientific{\textemdash}and often humorous{\textemdash}look at one of our most common yet complex and puzzling behaviors, by the recognized expert in the fieldGuffaws in a crowded bar, giggles that punctuate lovers{\textquoteright} murmurs, a blaring TV laugh track{\textemdash}the sounds of laughter are a fundamental part of life{\textquoteright}s texture. Science has largely overlooked this basic component of our humanity, but in Laughter neurobiologist Robert Provine takes a long-anticipated and wide-ranging look at this intriguing and surprising topic.Based on a decade of work in the field, Provine reveals that laughter is mostly a tool in social relationships rather than a simple response to humor; that women laugh more at men than vice versa; that speakers tend to laugh more than their audiences; that tickling rather than being a reflex is actually a form of communication. Drawing upon the latest evidence, much of it presented here for the first time, Provine{\textquoteright}s analysis of laughter includes such diverse topics as the sonic analysis of laughter, how laughter has been musically notated in opera scores, a 1962 laughing epidemic that immobilized an entire African community, and the genuine health benefits of laughing.Laughter is the rare science book that is both a groundbreaking study and wonderfully entertaining exploration of the human animal.</p>

<p>\&nbsp;</p>
},
	keywords = {Laughter.},
	isbn = {9780141002255},
	url = {http://lccn.loc.gov/00038227},
	author = {Provine, Robert R.}
}
