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"What was the price did Father Christmas's sled cost? Nothing, it was on the house."

This joke is greeted with moans that echo through a storage facility in London.

This describes a humor-evaluation session with a firm that produces products for gatherings. Its catalogue includes Christmas crackers.

The firm's owner smiles, almost sheepishly at the joke. But the joke has made the cut and will feature in future crackers.

"The success is gauged by the gag by the number of groans and the loudness of the groans at the table," she says.

The key to a good holiday cracker pun is not the same as a stand-up gag per se. It is all about the setting - in this case, the shared laughter of the holiday dinner table with elders, kids and possibly neighbours.

"The goal is for the gag to be something that unites the child in harmony with the grandparent," she adds.

The Neuroscience Behind Communal Amusement

Gathering to experience communal laughter is not only ancient, experts argue, it is probably to be pre-human.

"So when you are laughing with others at the Christmas table you are dropping into what's very likely a truly ancient mammal social vocalisation," says a professor.

Communal amusement, she says, aids in make and maintain social bonds between people.

Researchers have found that a absence of such interactions can seriously harm both psychological and bodily health.

"The people you talk to, and laugh with, it results in enhanced levels of 'happy chemical' release," she adds.

These natural chemicals are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce stress and pain and in response to pleasurable experiences, such as chuckling with friends over a truly awful festive cracker gag.

"You're not just laughing at a foolish pun with a Christmas cracker," she states. "You are actually doing a lot of the really vital task of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you care about."

What Happens In the Mind?

But what is truly taking place within the mind when we listen to a joke?

An awful lot occurs in response to humour, it turns out.

Employing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a kind of neural imager which shows which parts of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to chart the areas that receive more blood flow.

The research involves imaging the minds of healthy subjects and then subjecting them to a database of funny phrases, accompanied by either a neutral sound, or recorded chuckles.

"During the study we got a really interesting activation pattern of activation," notes the neuroscientist.

A gag stimulates not just the areas of the mind in charge of hearing and understanding speech, but also neural regions involved in both planning and starting movement and those linked to sight and memory.

Combine all of this as a whole, and individuals hearing a pun have a complex series of brain responses that support the laughter we hear.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Scientists discovered that when a humorous word is combined with chuckles there is a greater reaction in the mind than the identical word when followed by a non-emotional sound.

"This activation occurred in parts of the mind that you would employ to move your face into a grin or a laugh," the professor says.

It indicates people are not just reacting to humorous words, they are responding to the amusement that accompanies them.

Laughter, says the professor, can be contagious.

So what does this imply for the laughter heard at a holiday table?

"People laugh more when you are familiar with people," she says, "and you laugh further when you are fond of them or love them."

When it comes to festive cracker puns, she says, the positive effect is more probable to be caused not by the joke in itself, but from the reaction to it.

"It's the laughter. The joke is the dreadful holiday cracker pun, and it's just a reason to laugh together."

The Quest for the Ideal Cracker Joke

Is it possible to find the perfect joke?

Likely not, but that has not stopped researchers from trying to.

Years ago, a psychologist set up a scientific search for the planet's funniest gag.

More than tens of thousands of gags later, with scores provided by 350,000 participants around the world, he has a better understanding than most as to what works and what does not.

The ideal Christmas cracker pun must be short, he says.

"But they also need to be poor gags, jokes that make us moan," he adds.

The more "terrible" the joke, he states the better.

"This is because if no-one finds it funny – it's the gag's shortcoming, not yours.

"The fascinating part about the Christmas cracker puns is that not one person considers them humorous.

"That's a shared experience around the table and I believe it's lovely."