Why Do We Laugh? - Robin May

Dec 16, 2025

In this lively conversation, Robin May, Professor of Infectious Disease and Chief Scientist at the UK Health Security Agency, delves into the biology of laughter. He explores why laughter is so complex, discussing its links to social bonding and its cross-species traits. May also examines how laughter triggers relief from perceived threats and the fascinating brain regions involved. He touches on laughing's health benefits and even rare cases of fatal laughter! Prepare for a delightful journey through the science of why we giggle.

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INSIGHT

Cognitive Rectification Drives Many Jokes

Jokes often trigger laughter by resolving cognitive dissonance when the brain quickly reinterprets ambiguous information.
Robin May explains this 'cognitive rectification' as a core mechanic of many jokes and comedic moments.

INSIGHT

Laughter Signals Threat Resolution

Laughter often signals relief after a perceived threat is revealed harmless, releasing social tension.
May argues this relief-based laughter evolved to signal safety and strengthen group bonding.

INSIGHT

Neural Circuitry Behind Laughter

Laughter recruits the ventromedial frontal cortex plus the hypothalamus and amygdala to resolve fear and cognitive conflict.
Damage to these regions selectively disrupts types of humour, showing laughter's complex neural basis.

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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?

This lecture was recorded by Robin May on the 12th of November 2025 at Bernard’s Inn Hall, London

Professor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham, and (interim) Chief Scientist at the UK Health Security Agency, Robin May was appointed Gresham Professor of Physic in May 2022. Between July 2020 and September 2025 he served as Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Professor May’s early training was in Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford, followed by a PhD on mammalian cell biology at University College London and the University of Birmingham. After postdoctoral research on gene silencing at the Hubrecht Laboratory, The Netherlands, he returned to the UK in 2005 to establish a research program on human infectious diseases. He was Director of the Institute of Microbiology and Infection at the University of Birmingham from 2017-2020.

Professor May continues his work on Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham. A Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, Wolfson Royal Society Research Merit Fellow and Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, Professor May specialises in research into human infectious diseases, with a particular focus on how pathogens survive and replicate within host organisms.

As the FSA’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Professor May provides expert scientific advice to the UK government and plays a critical role in helping to understand how scientific developments will shape the work of the FSA, as well as the strategic implications of any possible changes.

The transcript of the lecture is available from the Gresham College website: https://www.gresham.ac.uk/watch-now/why-laugh

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