Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Ph.D. Degree Program, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Biol Psychol. 2022 Jul;172:108385. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108385. Epub 2022 Jun 28.
Sexual humor involves neural mechanisms related to both humor and sexual arousal. However, evidence on the role of the amygdala in processing sexual humor is lacking. Unlike erotic stimuli that directly involve a biological drive, sexual humor gains its value through learned associations. Processes related to responding to erotic versus monetary rewards have been identified in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (lOFC) along a postero-anterior axis, but it is less clear whether these processes are also active during the appreciation of sexual humor. Results showed the processing of sexual humor appreciation in the amygdala. Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis further identified functional connectivity in the amygdala-midbrain coupling during sexual humor versus monetary gains appreciation. The present study provides evidence demonstrating roles for the posterior OFC (pOFC) and anterior OFC (aOFC) in distinguishing between sexual (sexual humor and erotic) and non-sexual (monetary) rewards. The experience of sexual pleasure induced by erotic rewards involves phylogenetically and ontogenetically older regions in the pOFC, while the experience of receiving monetary gains involves the aOFC. This study also provides additional insights into sexual humor appreciation in the pOFC, with findings of a postero-anterior dissociation in the processing of sexual humor appreciation. PPI analysis revealed functional connectivity in the pOFC-amygdala coupling in response to both types of sexual rewards versus monetary rewards. Together, our results suggest that the amygdala serves as a reward hub, especially in processing sexual humor versus monetary gains appreciation. Functional connectivity analysis showed amygdala-midbrain and pOFC-amygdala coupling during the appreciation of sexual humor.
性幽默涉及与幽默和性唤起相关的神经机制。然而，关于杏仁核在处理性幽默中的作用的证据尚缺乏。与直接涉及生物驱力的色情刺激不同，性幽默通过学习联想获得其价值。在外侧眶额皮质 (lOFC) 中，已经确定了与对性和金钱奖励的反应相关的过程，沿着后-前轴，但在欣赏性幽默时，这些过程是否也活跃尚不清楚。结果显示了杏仁核在处理性幽默欣赏中的作用。心理生理交互 (PPI) 分析进一步确定了在性幽默与金钱收益欣赏过程中杏仁核-中脑的功能连接。本研究提供了证据，证明了后眶额皮质 (pOFC) 和前眶额皮质 (aOFC) 在区分性 (性幽默和色情) 和非性 (金钱) 奖励方面的作用。由色情奖励引起的性愉悦体验涉及到 pOFC 中更古老的进化和发育区域，而获得金钱收益的体验则涉及到 aOFC。这项研究还提供了关于 pOFC 中性幽默欣赏的更多见解，发现了在处理性幽默欣赏时存在前后分离。PPI 分析显示，在处理性和金钱奖励时，pOFC-杏仁核的功能连接。总之，我们的结果表明，杏仁核作为一个奖励枢纽，特别是在处理性幽默与金钱收益欣赏方面。功能连接分析显示了在性幽默欣赏过程中杏仁核-中脑和 pOFC-杏仁核的耦合。
