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"What was the price did Father Christmas's sleigh cost? Zero, it was on the house."

This one-liner is greeted with groans that echo through a storage facility in London.

This describes a humor-evaluation meeting with a firm that makes supplies for gatherings. Its repertoire includes Christmas crackers.

The firm's founder grins, nearly sheepishly at the joke. But the pun has made the cut and will feature in upcoming crackers.

"You measure the joke by the number of moans and the intensity of the groans at the table," she explains.

The key to a good holiday cracker pun is not the same as a stand-up joke in itself. It is all about the setting - in this instance, the communal laughter of the Christmas dinner table with elders, kids and possibly friends.

"You want the gag to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old together with the grandparent," she states.

The Neuroscience Of Communal Laughter

Coming together to enjoy shared amusement is not only ancient, experts say, it is probably to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with people at the Christmas dinner you are dropping into what's almost certainly a truly ancient mammalian play sound," explains a neuroscience expert.

Communal amusement, she explains, helps make and maintain social connections between people.

Researchers have found that a lack of such social exchanges can significantly harm both psychological and bodily well-being.

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

These natural chemicals are the brain's "happy chemicals" and are produced both to reduce tension and discomfort and in response to pleasurable activities, such as chuckling with friends over a truly awful Christmas cracker gag.

"It's not simply chuckling at a foolish joke with a holiday cracker," she states. "You are in fact doing a lot of the truly vital task of making, maintaining the connections you have with those you love."

Which Happens In the Brain?

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

A tremendous amount occurs in response to comedy, it turns out.

Using brain scanning technology, a kind of neural imager which indicates which areas of the mind are working harder, researchers have been able to map the areas that get more blood flow.

Testing entails scanning the minds of volunteer participants and then subjecting them to a database of humorous words, paired with either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

"During the study we observed a very interesting pattern of activation," says the neuroscientist.

A joke stimulates not just the parts of the brain in charge of hearing and understanding language, but also brain regions associated with both planning and initiating motion and those linked to sight and recall.

Put all of this together, and people hearing a joke have a complex series of brain responses that underpin the laughter we experience.

The Infectious Nature of Chuckles

Researchers discovered that when a humorous phrase is paired with chuckles there is a greater reaction in the brain than the identical word when accompanied by a non-emotional sound.

"This activation occurred in parts of the mind that you would employ to contort your face into a smile or a chuckle," the professor says.

It means people are not just reacting to funny jokes, they are reacting to the laughter that accompanies them.

Amusement, says the expert, can be contagious.

So what does this imply for the laughter found around a Christmas gathering?

"People laugh more when you know others," she notes, "and laughter increases more when you are fond of them or love them."

When it comes to festive cracker jokes, she says, the feel-good factor is more likely to be triggered not by the joke itself, but from the response to it.

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

The Search for the Perfect Festive Pun

Is it possible to find the perfect joke?

Likely not, but that has not prevented experts from attempting to.

Years ago, a psychologist set up a research project for the world's funniest gag.

More than tens of thousands of jokes submitted, with ratings provided by hundreds of thousands of participants around the world, he has a clearer understanding than most as to what succeeds and what fails.

The ideal festive cracker joke needs to be brief, he says.

"They must also be poor gags, puns that make us groan," he continues.

The more "awful" the joke, he says the more effective.

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

"What's interesting about the holiday cracker jokes is that not one person considers them funny.

"That's a shared moment around the table and I think it's lovely."