One morning 10 years ago, psychologist Jaak Panksepp walked into his lab and made an unusual proposition to a research assistant: “Come tickle some rats with me!” Panksepp wasn’t just trying to ...

One study found that rats emitted ultrasonic vocalizations when they were subjected to manual somatosensory stimulation, i.e., tickling. The results of this controversial research were published in ...

Tickling rats to make them chirp with joy may seem frivolous as a scientific pursuit, yet understanding laughter in animals may lead to revolutionary treatments for emotional illness, researchers ...

If you tickle a rat's belly, it squeals with laughter. However, we are unable to perceive this laughter as its frequency, around 50 kHz, exceeds the range of human hearing. Neuroscientist Jaak ...

March 31, 2005 — -- We may know what kinds of things make us laugh -- slapstick, a clever pun, an inside joke with an old friend, an April Fools' gag -- but just what are those strange sounds we ...

Laughter is often called the most human sound. It carries joy, relief, connection, and sometimes even healing. For centuries, we believed that laughter belonged only to us, a special emotional ...