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"How much did Santa's sled cost? Zero, it was on the house."

This joke is met by groans that echo through a warehouse in London.

This describes a humor-evaluation meeting with a company that produces products for gatherings. Its repertoire features festive crackers.

The company's owner grins, nearly apologetically at the joke. But the joke has made the cut and will appear in future crackers.

"The success is gauged by the joke by the volume of moans and the loudness of the groans at the table," she explains.

The secret to a great holiday cracker joke is not the identical as a stand-up gag in itself. It is all about the setting - in this case, the communal laughter of the Christmas dinner table with elders, children and possibly friends.

"The goal is for the joke to be a thing that unites the eight-year-old together with the grandparent," she adds.

The Neuroscience Behind Shared Amusement

Coming together to experience communal amusement is not only ancient, scientists say, it is likely to be pre-human.

"Therefore when you are chuckling with people at the holiday dinner you are dropping into what's almost certainly a really primordial mammal social sound," says a neuroscience expert.

Shared laughter, she explains, helps make and maintain social bonds between individuals.

Scientists have discovered that a absence of such interactions can seriously harm mental and physical health.

"Those you converse with, and share laughter with, it leads to enhanced levels of 'happy chemical' uptake," she continues.

These natural chemicals are the body's "happy chemicals" and are released both to reduce stress and pain and in reaction to pleasurable activities, such as chuckling with friends over a particularly awful Christmas cracker joke.

"It's not simply chuckling at a silly joke with a holiday cracker," the expert states. "You are actually performing a lot of the truly vital task of building, preserving the connections you have with the people you love."

Which Happens In the Brain?

But what is actually happening within the brain when we listen to a joke?

A tremendous amount happens in response to humour, it turns out.

Using brain scanning technology, a kind of neural imager which shows which parts of the mind are more active, scientists have been able to chart the regions that receive more blood.

Testing involves scanning the brains of volunteer subjects and then subjecting them to a database of humorous phrases, paired with either a non-emotional sound, or pre-recorded chuckles.

"During the study we observed a very interesting activation pattern of activation," notes the professor.

A gag stimulates not just the areas of the brain responsible for hearing and interpreting language, but also neural regions involved in both planning and initiating motion and those involved in sight and recall.

Put all of this together, and people hearing a pun have a complex series of neural responses that support the amusement we experience.

The Infectious Power of Chuckles

Scientists discovered that when a funny word is paired with chuckles there is a greater reaction in the brain than the same phrase 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 smile or a chuckle," the professor says.

It indicates we are not just responding to humorous jokes, they are reacting to the laughter that accompanies them.

Laughter, according to the expert, can be contagious.

So what does this mean for the laughter heard around a Christmas table?

"You laugh more when you are familiar with people," she notes, "and you laugh further when you like them or care for them."

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

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

The Quest for the Ideal Festive Pun

Is it possible to discover the ultimate joke?

Probably not, but that has not stopped experts from trying to.

In 2001, a psychologist set up a research project for the planet's funniest joke.

More than 40,000 gags submitted, with scores lodged by 350,000 people around the world, he has a clearer understanding than many as to what succeeds and what does not.

The perfect Christmas cracker pun needs to be short, he says.

"They must also need to be bad jokes, puns that make us groan," he continues.

The increasingly "terrible" the gag, he says the better.

"This is because if nobody laughs – it's the gag's shortcoming, not yours.

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

"That's a shared moment at the gathering and I believe it's wonderful."