Long before modern brain imaging technologies illuminated the neurophysiological mechanisms that make laughter contagious, William James (1842-1910) observed, "We don't laugh because we're happy, ...

While laughter is often considered uniquely human, tied to language and sense of humor, all great apes produce remarkably similar vocalizations during play that share evolutionary origins with human ...

Laughter — closely tied to language and a sense of humor — has long been thought to be uniquely human. But in a new study out of Indiana University, researchers have discovered that bonobos, the ...