What Do Christmas Cracker Jokes Influence Our Brains?

"What was the price did Santa's sleigh cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

This joke is greeted with moans that resonate through a warehouse in the capital.

We're at a joke-testing session with a firm that makes products for gatherings. Its catalogue features festive crackers.

The company's owner grins, almost sheepishly at the gag. But the pun has been selected and will appear in future crackers.

"The success is gauged by the joke by the volume of moans and the loudness of the groans at the table," she explains.

The secret to a good holiday cracker joke is not the identical as a stand-up gag in itself. It is entirely about the setting - in this instance, the communal amusement of the Christmas dinner table with grandparents, children and potentially neighbours.

"The goal is for the joke to be a thing that brings the eight-year-old in harmony with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Of Shared Laughter

Coming together to enjoy shared amusement is not only nothing new, scientists argue, it is likely to be pre-human.

"So when you are chuckling with others at the Christmas dinner you are engaging in what's almost certainly a really ancient mammalian play vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

Communal laughter, she explains, aids in make and maintain social bonds between individuals.

Scientists have found that a lack of such social exchanges can significantly harm mental and physical well-being.

"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it leads to enhanced levels of endorphin release," she adds.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to alleviate stress and pain and in response to pleasurable activities, such as laughing with friends over a truly terrible festive cracker joke.

"You're not just chuckling at a foolish joke with a holiday cracker," she states. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly important task of making, maintaining the social bonds you have with the people you love."

What Occurs In the Mind?

But what is actually happening inside the mind when we listen to a gag?

An awful lot occurs in response to humour, it transpires.

Employing brain scanning technology, a kind of brain scanner which indicates which parts of the mind are working harder, scientists have been able to chart the regions that receive more blood.

Testing involves imaging the minds of healthy participants and then exposing them to a database of funny phrases, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or recorded chuckles.

"During the study we observed a very interesting activation pattern of activation," notes the professor.

A joke activates not just the parts of the mind responsible for auditory processing and interpreting speech, but also brain regions associated with both preparation and starting motion and those linked to sight and recall.

Put these elements as a whole, and people hearing a pun have a sophisticated set of brain responses that underpin the laughter we hear.

The Infectious Power of Laughter

Researchers found that when a funny phrase is combined with laughter there is a greater reaction in the brain than the same word when followed by a neutral sound.

"This activation occurred in parts of the brain that you would use to contort your face into a smile or a laugh," the professor says.

It means we are not just reacting to humorous words, they are reacting to the amusement that follows them.

Laughter, says the professor, can be contagious.

So what does this imply for the chuckles heard at a holiday table?

"You laugh more when you are familiar with others," she says, "and laughter increases further when you are fond of them or care for them."

When it comes to Christmas cracker puns, she says, the positive effect is more likely to be triggered not by the gag itself, but from the response to it.

"The laughter is key. The joke is the terrible holiday cracker pun, and it's just a reason to chuckle together."

The Quest for the Perfect Cracker Joke

Will we ever find the ultimate gag?

Probably not, but that has not stopped experts from attempting to.

Years ago, a psychologist set up a research search for the planet's most humorous joke.

More than tens of thousands of gags later, with scores provided by hundreds of thousands of people globally, he has a clearer understanding than most as to what works and what does not.

The perfect festive cracker pun must be short, he says.

"They must also be poor jokes, jokes that make us groan," he adds.

The increasingly "awful" the gag, he says the better.

"The reason is that if nobody laughs – it's the gag's fault, not your own.

"The fascinating part about the Christmas cracker jokes is that not one person find them funny.

"It creates a common moment around the gathering and I believe it's wonderful."