proposing, like Darwin, that emotions were universally recognizable. His early work focused on six basic emotions: happiness, anger, sadness, fear, disgust, and surprise. By the 1990s, Ekman had expanded this list to include several additional emotions, one of which was amusement. Displays of amusement have been distinguished from related emotions like embarrassment and shame. More recent studies have confirmed that laughter is a distinct signal of amusement and is recognizable across cultures. Facial expression An amused facial expression typically has these characteristics: Head: Thrown back with jaw lifted Eyes: Crow's feet at the eyes indicating that the muscles have tightened Mouth: Open, jaw dropped with relaxed muscles Vocal burst The expression of amusement is usually accompanied by genuine laughter. The experience of laughter changes the breathing pattern and often causes all the muscles to relax. Cultural considerations As a positive, high arousal emotion, amusement falls in the same category as excitement and exhilaration. These emotions are highly valued in American culture where positive feelings that high in energy are seen as ideal. In contrast, East Asian cultures value positive, low arousal emotions such as contentment, calm and peacefulness. Clinical uses Emotion regulation Emotion regulation is the term for how people attempt to influence - increasing, decreasing, maintaining, or changing - how, when, and where they experience emotion. Through changing how they think about a target of amusement, like a humorous video clip, people are able to increase and decrease how much amusement they feel, express in smiles and laughs, and experience in their bodies (e.g. increased heart rate and respiration). Choosing to increase or prolong experiences of positive emotion is one way in which people can learn to cope when faced with challenges and develop resilience. Resilience As a positive emotion, amusement contributes to the development of resilience in both children and adults. Positive emotions help people build social resources that foster their ability to cope during hard times. Increases in resilience lead to higher life satisfaction and general happiness. Laughter therapy Rapidly growing in popularity, laughter therapy, or humor therapy, focuses on promoting laughter as a therapeutic tool. Usually implemented in a group, laughter therapy uses a variety of gag jokes like red noses and magic tricks to encourage laughter - fake or real. Laughter causes the body's muscles to relax which increases blood flow and oxygen intake. Proposed benefits include: Stress management, relaxation, improved mental functions, improved digestion,