Université de Fribourg

Laughter is in the air: Involvement of key nodes of the emotional motor system in the anticipation of tickling

Wattendorf, Elise ; Westermann, Birgit ; Fiedler, Klaus ; Ritz, Simone ; Redmann, Annetta ; Pfannmöller, Jörg ; Lotze, Martin ; Celio, Marco R

In: Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2019, p. -

In analogy to the appreciation of humor, that of tickling is based upon the re- interpretation of an anticipated emotional situation. Hence, the anticipation of tickling contributes to the final outburst of ticklish laughter. To localize the neuronal substrates of this process, fMRI was conducted on 31 healthy volunteers. The state of anticipation was simulated by generating an uncertainty...

Université de Fribourg

Insular cortex activity and the evocation of laughter

Wattendorf, Elise ; Westermann, Birgit ; Lotze, Martin ; Fiedler, Klaus ; Celio, Marco R.

In: Journal of Comparative Neurology, 2015, p. -

The insular cortex is fundamentally involved in the processing of interoceptive information. It has been postulated that the integrative monitoring of the bodily responses to environmental stimuli is crucial for the recognition and experience of emotions. Because emotional arousal is known to be closely coupled to functions of the anterior insula, we suspected laughter to be associated primarily...

Université de Fribourg

Exploration of the neural correlates of ticklish laughter by functional magnetic resonance imaging

Wattendorf, Elise ; Westermann, Birgit ; Fiedler, Klaus ; Kaza, Evangelia ; Lotze, Martin ; Celio, Marco R.

In: Cerebral Cortex, 2013, vol. 23, no. 6, p. 1280-1289

The burst of laughter that is evoked by tickling is a primitive form of vocalization. It evolves during an early phase of postnatal life and appears to be independent of higher cortical circuits. Clinicopathological observations have led to suspicions that the hypothalamus is directly involved in the production of laughter. In this functional magnetic resonance imaging investigation, healthy...