How Do Christmas Cracker Puns Affect The Brain?

"How much did Father Christmas's sled cost? Zero, it was on the house."

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

We're at a humor-evaluation session with a firm that produces products for gatherings. Its repertoire includes festive crackers.

The company's owner smiles, almost apologetically at the gag. But the pun has been selected and will feature in upcoming crackers.

"You measure the gag by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans at the table," the founder explains.

The key to a good Christmas cracker joke is not the same as a good joke in itself. It is all about the setting - in this instance, the communal amusement of the holiday dinner table with elders, kids and potentially neighbours.

"You want the gag to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old in harmony with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Behind Communal Amusement

Gathering to experience communal laughter is not only nothing new, scientists say, it is likely to be pre-human.

"So when you are laughing with others around the Christmas table you are dropping into what's very likely a truly ancient mammal play vocalisation," says a neuroscience expert.

Shared amusement, she explains, aids in forge and strengthen social bonds between people.

Researchers have found that a absence of these interactions can significantly harm mental and physical health.

"Those you converse with, and laugh with, it leads to enhanced levels of endorphin release," she continues.

Endorphins are the body's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce tension and discomfort and in response to pleasurable activities, such as chuckling with loved ones over a particularly terrible festive cracker joke.

"It's not simply chuckling at a silly pun with a Christmas cracker," the expert states. "You are in fact doing a lot of the really important work of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you care about."

What Occurs In the Brain?

But what is actually happening inside the brain when we hear a gag?

A tremendous amount occurs in response to comedy, it turns out.

Using brain scanning technology, a type of neural imager which indicates which areas of the brain are working harder, researchers have been able to map the regions that get more blood.

The research entails scanning the brains of volunteer subjects and then exposing them to a database of humorous words, accompanied by either a non-emotional sound, or recorded chuckles.

"During the study we observed a really interesting pattern of activation," says the professor.

A gag activates not just the areas of the mind in charge of auditory processing and interpreting speech, but also neural areas involved in both planning and starting motion and those involved in vision and recall.

Put these elements together, and individuals listening to a joke have a complex set of neural reactions that underpin the amusement we experience.

The Infectious Power of Laughter

Researchers found that when a funny phrase is paired with chuckles there is a stronger response in the brain than the same phrase when accompanied by a neutral sound.

"This was in areas of the mind that you would employ to move your face into a smile or a chuckle," she explains.

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

Amusement, says the expert, can be contagious.

So what does this imply for the laughter found around a Christmas table?

"People laugh harder when you know others," she notes, "and you laugh more when you like them or love them."

When it comes to festive cracker puns, she says, the positive factor is more likely to be triggered not by the gag itself, but from the reaction to it.

"The laughter is key. The joke is the dreadful holiday cracker joke, and it's just a pretext to laugh together."

The Search for the Ideal Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the perfect joke?

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

Years ago, a psychologist set up a research search for the world's funniest joke.

More than tens of thousands of gags later, with scores lodged by 350,000 people around the world, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what works and what fails.

The perfect festive cracker pun needs to be short, he says.

"They must also be bad jokes, jokes that cause us to moan," he adds.

The increasingly "awful" the joke, he says the more effective.

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

"The fascinating part about the Christmas cracker puns is that none of us find them funny.

"That's a shared experience around the table and I believe it's wonderful."