Abstract

Humor is a ubiquitous human characteristic that is socially motivated at its core and has a broad range of significant positive effects on emotional well-being and interpersonal relationships. Simultaneously, however, impairments in humor abilities have often been described in close association with the occurrence and course of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as schizophrenia, social anxiety, or depression. In the past decade, research in the neuroimaging and psychiatric domain has substantially progressed to (i) characterize impaired humor as an element of psychopathology, and (ii) shed light on the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the role of humor in neuropsychiatric diseases. However, (iii) targeted interventions using concepts of positive psychology have revealed first evidence that a systematic training and/or a potential reactivation of humor-related skills can improve rehabilitative outcome in neuropsychiatric patient groups. Here, we sought to integrate evidence from neuroscience, as well as from psychopathology and treatment research to shed more light on the role of humor in psychiatry. Based on these considerations, we provide directions for future research and application in mental health services, focusing on the question of how our scientific understanding of humor can provide the basis for psychological interventions that foster positive attitudes and well-being.

Highlights

  • Humor is a unique aspect of everyday human interaction and communication with substantial implications for a variety of variables underlying positive social and emotional functioning [1]

  • We provide directions and perspectives for future research and application in mental health services, focusing on the question of how our scientific understanding of humor can provide the basis for the further development of psychological interventions that foster positive attitudes and well-being

  • The results of this study suggest that patients with schizophrenia exhibit frontotemporal hypoactivation during the cognitive processes related to humor comprehension [34]

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Summary

INTRODUCTION

Humor is a unique aspect of everyday human interaction and communication with substantial implications for a variety of variables underlying positive social and emotional functioning [1]. Humor might be crucial for the quality of relationships with other people [1], social support [2], attractiveness [3, 4], psychological well-being [5, 6], and coping abilities [7, 8] Besides these well-established positive influences, impairments in humor have been described as a core feature of social functioning deficits identified across disorders in the affective and psychotic spectrum [9]. Together, these considerations underline a potentially important role of humor for mental health, as first noted in pioneering descriptions of psychiatric conditions [10]. We provide directions and perspectives for future research and application in mental health services, focusing on the question of how our scientific understanding of humor can provide the basis for the further development of psychological interventions that foster positive attitudes and well-being

THE INFLUENCE OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY ON HUMOR
THE NEURAL BASIS OF HUMOR
THERAPEUTIC USE OF HUMOR IN PSYCHIATRY
Humor as an Element of Therapy
Efficacy of Systematic Humor Interventions
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
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