Abstract
Abstract Background Humor is composed of a cognitive element related to the detection of humor and an affective element related to the appreciation of humor. To investigate activated areas of the brain related to the two components of humor and to identify neural substrates associated with the degree of humor intensity, 13 participants were scanned while watching cartoons. Findings While watching humorous scenes, various areas of the brain were activated, including (1) the inferior gyrus, an area involved in reconciling ambiguous semantic content with stored knowledge, and (2) the temporal gyrus and fusiform gyrus, brain regions associated with the feeling of mirth. Further, humor intensity was positively correlated with BOLD signal magnitude in the nucleus accumbens, a region known to be involved in psychologically and psychopharmacologically driven rewards. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate a two-component neural circuit model of humor processing and a key region important in pleasurable feelings accompanied by humor.
Highlights
Humor is composed of a cognitive element related to the detection of humor and an affective element related to the appreciation of humor
Our findings demonstrate a two-component neural circuit model of humor processing and a key region important in pleasurable feelings accompanied by humor
We examined differences in brain activation associated with the two elements of humor, the cognitive element and the affective element, and identified brain areas positively correlated with the rating of funniness using an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm
Summary
Humor is composed of a cognitive element related to the detection of humor and an affective element related to the appreciation of humor. They found that the left hemisphere of the brain is related to the integration of information that is required for understanding humor and that the right hemisphere is associated with the emotional processing of humor. Studies comparing activated areas of the brain responsible for the affective element and the cognitive element have been conducted.
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