Abstract
‘Getting a joke’ always requires resolving an apparent incongruity, but the particular cognitive operations called upon vary depending on the nature of the joke itself. Previous research has identified the primary neural correlates of the cognitive and affective processes called upon to respond to humor generally, but little work has been done on the substrates underlying the distinct cognitive operations required to comprehend particular joke types. This study explored the neural correlates of the cognitive processes required to successfully comprehend three joke types: bridging-inference jokes (BJs), exaggeration jokes (EJs), and ambiguity jokes (AJs). For all joke types, the left dlPFC appeared to support common cognitive mechanisms, such as script-shifting, while the vACC was associated with affective appreciation. The temporo-parietal lobe (TPJ and MTG) was associated with BJs, suggesting involvement of these regions with ‘theory of mind’ processing. The fronto-parietal lobe (IPL and IFG) was associated with both EJs and AJs, suggesting that it supports executive control processes such as retrieval from episodic memory, self-awareness, and language-based decoding. The social-affective appreciation of verbal jokes was associated with activity in the orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, and parahippocampal gyrus. These results allow a more precise account of the neural processes required to support the particular cognitive operations required for the understanding of different types of humor.
Highlights
Successful humor achieves it effect by first generating a surprise through introducing an unexpected incongruity of some sort, and amusement by providing the reader with the material needed to resolve the incongruity in a playful manner
There was no significant difference in the degree of funniness between the three joke types (BJs, exaggeration jokes (EJs), and ambiguity jokes (AJs)), nor was there a significant difference between the ‘funny’ and ‘very funny’ ratings across the three joke types
Incongruity is necessary for humor, and these incongruities are resolved based on logical mechanisms which recur for particular types of jokes
Summary
Successful humor achieves it effect by first generating a surprise through introducing an unexpected incongruity of some sort, and amusement by providing the reader with the material needed to resolve the incongruity in a playful manner. Less work has been done in developing an account of the particular cognitive processes called upon by different types of humor, and even less has been done to identify the neural correlates associated with these cognitive processes. Attardo and Raskin’s General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH; Attardo and Raskin, 1991) provides perhaps the most comprehensive attempt to identify and categorize different types of verbal humor, along with the ‘logical mechanisms’ required for humor comprehension. We adapt this theoretical framework to develop an. In the main part of this study, we attempt to identify the particular neural regions associated with these different cognitive operations
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