Matsui Tomoko, Nakamura Tagiru, Utsumi Akira, Sasaki Akihiro T, Koike Takahiko, Yoshida Yumiko, Harada Tokiko, Tanabe Hiroki C, Sadato Norihiro
Center for Research in International Education, Tokyo Gakugei University, 4-1-1 Nukuikitamachi, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8501, Japan.
Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, 5322 Endo, Fujisawa, Kanagawa 252-8520, Japan.
Neuropsychologia. 2016 Jul 1;87:74-84. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2016.04.031. Epub 2016 May 6.
A hearer's perception of an utterance as sarcastic depends on integration of the heard statement, the discourse context, and the prosody of the utterance, as well as evaluation of the incongruity among these aspects. The effect of prosody in sarcasm comprehension is evident in everyday conversation, but little is known about its underlying mechanism or neural substrates. To elucidate the neural underpinnings of sarcasm comprehension in the auditory modality, we conducted a functional MRI experiment with 21 adult participants. The participants were provided with a short vignette in which a child had done either a good or bad deed, about which a parent made a positive comment. The participants were required to judge the degree of the sarcasm in the parent's positive comment (praise), which was accompanied by either positive or negative affective prosody. The behavioral data revealed that an incongruent combination of utterance and the context (i.e., the parent's positive comment on a bad deed by the child) induced perception of sarcasm. There was a significant interaction between context and prosody: sarcasm perception was enhanced when positive prosody was used in the context of a bad deed or, vice versa, when negative prosody was used in the context of a good deed. The corresponding interaction effect was observed in the rostro-ventral portion of the left inferior frontal gyrus corresponding to Brodmann's Area (BA) 47. Negative prosody incongruent with a positive utterance (praise) activated the bilateral insula extending to the right inferior frontal gyrus, anterior cingulate cortex, and brainstem. Our findings provide evidence that the left inferior frontal gyrus, particularly BA 47, is involved in integration of discourse context and utterance with affective prosody in the comprehension of sarcasm.
听众将话语理解为讽刺取决于对所听到的陈述、话语语境、话语韵律的整合，以及对这些方面之间不一致性的评估。韵律在讽刺理解中的作用在日常对话中很明显，但对其潜在机制或神经基础却知之甚少。为了阐明听觉模态下讽刺理解的神经基础，我们对21名成年参与者进行了一项功能磁共振成像实验。为参与者提供了一个简短的小故事，其中一个孩子做了一件好事或坏事，父母对此做出了积极评价。参与者被要求判断父母积极评价（赞扬）中的讽刺程度，该评价伴随着积极或消极的情感韵律。行为数据显示，话语与语境的不一致组合（即父母对孩子坏事的积极评价）会引发讽刺感。语境和韵律之间存在显著的交互作用：当在坏事语境中使用积极韵律时，或者反之，当在好事语境中使用消极韵律时，讽刺感会增强。在对应于布罗德曼区（BA）47的左侧额下回的嘴侧腹侧部分观察到了相应的交互作用效应。与积极话语（赞扬）不一致的消极韵律激活了双侧脑岛，延伸至右侧额下回、前扣带回皮质和脑干。我们的研究结果提供了证据，表明左侧额下回，特别是BA 47，在讽刺理解中参与了话语语境、话语与情感韵律的整合。
