BERKELEY (CBS SF) -- Are you a compulsive giggler? Blame it on your family.
Researchers at UC Berkeley and Northwestern University say they've discovered the "giggle gene" responsible for the regulation of serotonin that makes some of us more prone to bursts of laughter.
The study published in the journal Emotion found that people with the short allele of gene variant known as 5-HTTLPR were more likely to smile and laugh while looking at Far Side cartoons and funny video clips.
Researchers videotaped 336 participants' facial expressions to find genuine signs of amusement such as crow's feet around the eyes. Their saliva was also sampled to determine if they had the short version of the 5-HTTLPR gene.
Overall, those with the short allele showed more authentic smiles and laughter than the long-allele cohort.
"It may be that across the whole palette of human emotions, these genes turn up the gain of the amplifier," said study senior author Robert Levenson, a leading researcher in human emotions and a psychology professor at UC Berkeley. "It sheds new light on an important piece of the genetic puzzle."
A previous study by the same research team found that people with the same gene were more impacted by their spouse's emotions, suggesting that DNA is also linked to marital satisfaction.
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