Marta Calderón, Institute for Neurosciences UMH-CSIC researcher, named finalist for the Luis Felipe Torrente Science Communication Award

The article ‘Partirse de risa: el origen científico del ja, ja, ja’ written by Marta Calderón García, has been selected as a finalist in the fifth edition of the Luis Felipe Torrente Science Communication Award for Medicine and Health, organized by The Lilly Foundation and The Conversation Spain. Calderón, an internship student, works in the Synaptic Neuromodulation group at the Institute for Neurosciences, a joint center of the Miguel Hernández University (UMH) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

Photo: Marta Calderón, IN-CSIC-UMH

Chosen from among 132 submissions, the article explores the biological and evolutionary origins of laughter, its social function, and the therapeutic benefits it offers to health. From the chuckles of apes to the brain mechanisms triggered when something amuses us, Calderón provides a rigorous yet accessible overview of this universal phenomenon. The author, a recipient of a JAE-Intro fellowship from the CSIC, also analyzes how laughter promotes social bonding and activates the brain’s pleasure circuits, while highlighting its value as a tool for physical and emotional well-being.

The Lilly Foundation and The Conversation are holding the Luis Felipe Torrente Science Communication Award for Medicine and Health for the fifth time, aiming to promote and recognize science communication in the fields of health and medicine, encourage the use of Spanish as a language for transmitting scientific knowledge—especially in the health sciences—and to foster public dissemination of knowledge across the Spanish-speaking world.

Read the full article at: https://sapiens.umh.es/partirse-de-risa-el-origen-cientifico-del-ja-ja-ja/

Source: UMH Communication Service (comunicacion@umh.es)