The Elephant in the Room: Attention to Salient Scene Features Increases with Comedic Expertise

A Cognitive Neuroscientist, Ori currently is based at Pomona College, who has studied everything from the neural basis for visual object recognition to moral perception. His research on the neural correlates of humor processing is the first exploring both passive humor appreciation and active humor generation. During his doctoral work at the University of Southern California he studied professional comedians brain activation as they improvised comedy. Ori performs stand-up comedy himself, or as he calls it, conduct scientific experiments on comedy club audiences.

Ori Amir

Pomona College

6 Hypotheses on Supervisor, Subordinate Relationships

Dr. Mike is a stand-up philosopher, associate professor, and organizational humorist based near Greensboro, North Carolina. As an academic he has been researching humor since his dissertation days. More recently he has been writing about the cognition of humor, the ethics of humor, and working with colleagues on some empirical research on humor. He recently started his own consultancy, Mirth Management, that focuses on humor in the workplace. When not doing any of this, he can be found in his shop, woodworking, carving wooden bowls, practicing Aikido, and hanging out with his family.

Dr. Michael

Cundall, Jr.

NC A&T State, Mirth Management

Evaluating the Impact of Humor Training on Workgroup Trust

Dr. Brian Harman, someone who once nearly choked to death from laughing too hard, is an executive coach and leadership professor based out of Los Angeles, California, USA. He has taught around the world and his work on trust in the field of leadership psychology has been featured by Forbes.com and in peer-reviewed academic journals. He studied at Pepperdine University and the University of Oxford, completing his MBA and then a Ph.D. in Global Leadership and Change. When he is not teaching, he is with his team at Business Management Hallmark. “I believe executives have a responsibility to build high-trust workplaces because you can’t have a well-balanced healthy life outside of work and then come to work at a job you hate. High-trust leaders create the environment where people thrive and enjoy holistic success." 

Brian Harmon

Pepperdine University

Evaluation of a Laughter Yoga Activities Training Program for Lifestyle Assistants Employed in Residential Aged Care

Ros Ben-Moshe is Adjunct lecturer in the Department of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia where for many years she lectured in health promotion and public health. She is also Director of LaughLife Wellbeing programs and author of “Laughing at cancer – How to Heal with Love, Laughter and Mindfulness.” She has conducted laughter therapy research measuring the health benefits of laughter in patients receiving dialysis, residents and staff in aged care facilities and tertiary students.

Ros Ben-Moshe 

Laughlife Wellbeing Programs,

La Trobe University Melbourne