Lecture, Barnard's Inn Hall, Wednesday, 12 Nov 2025 - 18:00

Why Do We Laugh?

Close-up of a senior woman with short grey hair laughing joyfully

Laughter is an incredibly powerful and yet mysterious emotion. We laugh with delight, but also surprise. We laugh at jokes, but also at embarrassment. Why? What subconscious signal is laughter intended to display? Why do we laugh when someone tickles us and what should we make of the fact that rodents do it too? And why is it that people’s sense of humour differs wildly and yet some drugs can send us all into fits of the giggles, even if there is nothing to laugh at?

Professor Robin May

Professor Robin May

Gresham Professor of Physic

Gresham Professor of Physic, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Professor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, Professor Robin...

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