An Overview
Laughter Form
My app - Work in Progress for 2024
Welcome To My Scientific research
Hello! My name is Tarini N and this website is a part of my scientific research about a very important subject, mental health. Over the past 60 years, C8H11NO2(Dopamine) has been studied extensively. Approximately 110,000 research articles have been written identifying its relationship to Parkinson's disease, moods and drug addiction. Suggestions surrounding clinical prescriptions, diet, sunshine, massage, exercise to produce C8H11NO2 exist, but laughter as an alternative therapy is yet to be researched in detail. There is a saying, "Laughter is the best medicine." Laughing swaps the C21H30O (Cortisol) in our bloodstream with highly sought after chemicals in the brain: C8H11NO2 (Dopamine), C43H66N12O12S2 (Oxytocin), and C77H120N18O26S (Endorphins).
Laughter creates a natural high for our brains, due to the chemicals produced by our blood cells. The brain knows how to balance a natural high by releasing an appropriate amount of dopamine while chemical drugs causes the brain to force release dopamine. Over time such forced releases from chemical highs can damage the brain. More specifically, laughter releases dopamine as a neurotransmitter, which serves as a reward for the brain, creates a sense of euphoria, and plays a pivotal role in our motivation to continue the behavior.
Dopamine also doesn't act alone. It works with other neurotransmitters and hormones, such as C10H12N2O (serotonin) and C9H13N03 (Epinephrine - Adrenaline). This year, my research has been limited to Dopamine.
Different people around the world deal with stress in different ways. Parents, students, and people in the workforce all go through stress. I have been thinking about how to help people deal with stress from a young age and I want to be able to help others by sharing what I know.
If possible, it would mean a lot to me if you could fill out my form I created as part of my research data collection. I hope my website and app (coming in 2024 as part of my future solution) can help everyone out :)
Tarini N
About my research
My Hypothesis: If laughter is induced, then C₈H₁₁NO₂ (dopamine), a feel good chemical, can be produced naturally in our body thus helping reduce stress
Everything starts with a passion. As a student who tries very hard to do my best I tend to put a lot of stress on myself and work very long hours without breaks. I know a lot of students and people in the work force are struggling with the same issue. In most cases, they are dealing with stress unconsciously.
Neurons in the region at the base of the brain produce dopamine in a two-step process. First, the amino acid tyrosine is converted into another amino acid, called L-dopa. After this, L-dopa undergoes another change as enzymes turn it into dopamine.
Having low levels of dopamine can make you less motivated and excited about things. It’s linked to some mental illnesses including depression, schizophrenia and psychosis. On the other hand, having too much dopamine — or too much dopamine concentrated in some parts of the brain and not enough in other parts — is linked to being more competitive, aggressive and having poor impulse control. It can lead to conditions such as ADHD, binge eating, addiction and
gambling. In Parkinson’s disease, the nerve cells that produce dopamine gradually die. Because dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the muscles, this leads to problems with muscle stiffness and movements.
Overall, there are several parts to my project:
1. I created an online survey for human subjects to ask them for their mood for the day and request them to enjoy some jokes in an effort to make them laugh. That way, they can possibly produce dopamine and record their mood after taking a short break. No personal information such as name or location details were collected from my subjects. My survey is purely anonymous and no correlation to any individual will be made.
2. Laughter Timer - Based on the data collected so far, I created a homemade "Laughter Timer" that displays a message every 3 hours to remind the user to take a break. A home made timer manufactured with a PCB and coded with Arduino. I also created a 3D printed case to protect the circuit and make it easy to keep on a desk. Ideally, this notification would come from an app on a phone or computer, but unfortunately I don't know how to do this yet. Instead, I have a made a manual timer.
3. Ideally, I would take fluid samples from my subjects and test their dopamine/chemical levels in a lab, but given the scope of my project this year, five human subjects were further tested for 7 days to record there Blood pressure (BP), Oxygen levels and EKG data. to correlate C8H11NO2 and its effect on stress levels to prove my hypothesis.
4. My future research/solution will include analyzing fluid samples if I can find a lab to work with and possibly an app that will be focused on getting the subjects to laugh through jokes, such their C8H11NO2 production is increased.
Again, please take a minute or two to fill our my form in the Laughter Form tab. Thank you!
My chemistry teacher inspired me to look at things from an Chemistry viewpoint. Thank you Dr. Tse for all of your help on my project!
In order to monitor and record levels of stress using my app (coming in 2024), I created a form. It would mean a lot to me if you could take the time to fill out my form before and after using my joke generator. I am trying to collect as much data as possible to learn about stress. It is my goal to continue to learn so I can continue to help people. No personal information will be collected. Click the more button to find my forms form. Thank you for your time!
Laughter Form
My app
I have been thinking about an app for a while now. I came to know that one of the main stress reducers is by inducing laughter. Laughter causes muscle relaxation, and increases endorphins, which boosts happiness levels and allows circulation. Laughter is the key to lowering stress hormones and stopping other emotions from interfering with your mood. To find more information about how laughter reduces stress levels, view the Information and Stress Tips page. Once I found out the connection between stress and laughter, I decided the best way to reduce stress was to cause laughter through jokes. I am a very big fan of jokes and love to start my day with a joke or riddle. My app may be a joke generator which keeps track of points for a fun competitive addition. This allows the user to have fun while reducing stress levels and allowing them to take a break. It is a work in progress at the moment. A QR code to download my app will be coming soon :)
