Shibata Midori, Terasawa Yuri, Umeda Satoshi
Department of Psychology, Hokkaido University, Kita 10, Nishi 7, Kita-ku, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan; Global Research Centre of Logic and Sensibility, Keio University, Tokyo 108-0073, Japan.
Global Research Centre of Logic and Sensibility, Keio University, Tokyo 108-0073, Japan; Department of Psychology, Keio University, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan; Department of Psychophysiology, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Kodaira-shi, Tokyo, Japan.
Neuropsychologia. 2014 Dec;65:137-45. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.025. Epub 2014 Oct 28.
Humor comprehension is a complex process that requires the detection and resolution of the incongruity, eliciting a positive feeling of mirth or reward. We conducted a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study to identify the key factors involved in this complex process. To reduce the influence of other factors, we utilized a group of sentences that were nearly identical across conditions (i.e., the first two sentences and the punch line were identical, but the third sentence was different). We found that the punch line (target sentence) in the funny condition induced a perception of funniness and elicited greater activation in language and semantic neural networks, which have been implicated in comprehension processing (i.e., incongruity detection and resolution). We also found increased activation in the mesolimbic reward regions, which have been implicated in the experience of positive rewards in the funny condition. Psycho-physiological interaction analyses revealed that language and semantic regions, such as inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), middle temporal gyrus (MTG), superior temporal gyrus (STG), superior frontal gyrus (SFG), and inferior parietal lobule (IPL) are simultaneously activated during humor comprehension processing. These analyses also revealed that the right MTG, the left IPL, and IFG showed enhanced connectivity with the midbrain. Our findings suggest that these networks play a central role in incongruity detection and resolution, as well as in positive emotional response.
幽默理解是一个复杂的过程，需要察觉并解决不协调之处，从而引发愉悦或满足的积极感受。我们进行了一项功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究，以确定这一复杂过程中涉及的关键因素。为减少其他因素的影响，我们使用了一组在不同条件下几乎相同的句子（即前两句话和妙语相同，但第三句话不同）。我们发现，有趣条件下的妙语（目标句子）引发了滑稽感，并在语言和语义神经网络中引发了更强的激活，这些神经网络与理解过程（即不协调的察觉和解决）有关。我们还发现中脑边缘奖赏区域的激活增加，这与有趣条件下的积极奖赏体验有关。心理生理交互分析显示，在幽默理解过程中，语言和语义区域，如下额回（IFG）、颞中回（MTG）、颞上回（STG）、额上回（SFG）和顶下小叶（IPL）会同时被激活。这些分析还显示，右侧MTG、左侧IPL和IFG与中脑的连接增强。我们的研究结果表明，这些网络在不协调的察觉和解决以及积极情绪反应中发挥着核心作用。
