Increased sense of humor

Increased sense of humour is as a general enhancement of the likelihood and degree to which a person finds stimuli to be humorous and amusing. During this state, a person's sensitivity to finding things funny is noticeably amplified, often to the point that they will begin uncontrollably laughing at trivial things without any intelligible reason or apparent cause. [1] [2] [3] [4]

In group settings, the experience of witnessing another person who is laughing intensely for no apparent reason can itself become a contagious trigger which induces semi-uncontrollable laughter within the people around them. In extreme cases, this can often form a lengthy feedback loop in which people begin to laugh hysterically at the absurdity of not being able to stop laughing and not knowing what started the laughter to begin with.

Increased sense of humor is often accompanied by other coinciding effects such as emotion intensification and novelty enhancement. It is most commonly induced under the influence of moderate dosages of certain hallucinogenic compounds, such as psychedelics, mescaline [5] , and cannabinoids. [1] [6] However, it can also occur to a much lesser extent under the influence of stimulants [7] , GABAergic depressants, and dissociatives. [1] [6]


References

  1. [1][2][3]
    Siegel, R. K., & Hirschman, A. E. (1985). Hashish and laughter: Historical notes and translations of early french investigations. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 17(2), 87-91. | https://doi.org/10.1080/02791072.1985.10472327
  2. Bøhling, F. (2017). Psychedelic pleasures: An affective understanding of the joys of tripping. International Journal of Drug Policy, 49, 133-143. | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.07.017
  3. Xu, X., Ma, S., Feng, Z., Hu, G., Wang, L., & Xie, X. Q. (2016). Chemogenomics knowledgebase and systems pharmacology for hallucinogen target identification—Salvinorin A as a case study. Journal of Molecular Graphics and Modelling, 70, 284-295. | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmgm.2016.08.001
  4. Kremer, C., Paulke, A., Wunder, C., & Toennes, S. W. (2012). Variable adverse effects in subjects after ingestion of equal doses of Argyreia nervosa seeds. Forensic science international, 214(1-3), e6-e8. | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2011.06.025
  5. Shulgin, A., & Shulgin, A. (1995). PIHKAL: a chemical love story. Berkeley, CA: Transform Press. | https://erowid.org/library/books_online/pihkal/pihkal096.shtml
  6. [1][2]
    Morgan, C. J., Noronha, L. A., Muetzelfeldt, M., Feilding, A., & Curran, H. V. (2013). Harms and benefits associated with psychoactive drugs: findings of an international survey of active drug users. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 27(6), 497-506. | https://dx.doi.org/10.1177%2F0269881113477744
  7. Mobbs, D., Greicius, M. D., Abdel-Azim, E., Menon, V., & Reiss, A. L. (2003). Humor modulates the mesolimbic reward centers. Neuron, 40(5), 1041-1048. | https://doi.org/10.1016/S0896-6273(03)00751-7

Tags

amplification
cannabinoid
cognitive
enhancement
psychedelic
stimulant

Contributors

The following people contributed to the content of this article:

JosieKayleeGabrielGraham