Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Apr 24:8:498.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00498. eCollection 2017.

To Resolve or Not To Resolve, that Is the Question: The Dual-Path Model of Incongruity Resolution and Absurd Verbal Humor by fMRI

Ru H Dai  1 , Hsueh-Chih Chen  1 , Yu C Chan  2 , Ching-Lin Wu  1 , Ping Li  3 , Shu L Cho  4 , Jon-Fan Hu  5
Affiliations

To Resolve or Not To Resolve, that Is the Question: The Dual-Path Model of Incongruity Resolution and Absurd Verbal Humor by fMRI

Ru H Dai et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

It is well accepted that the humor comprehension processing involves incongruity detection and resolution and then induces a feeling of amusement. However, this three-stage model of humor processing does not apply to absurd humor (so-called nonsense humor). Absurd humor contains an unresolvable incongruity but can still induce a feeling of mirth. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify the neural mechanisms of absurd humor. Specifically, we aimed to investigate the neural substrates associated with the complete resolution of incongruity resolution humor and partial resolution of absurd humor. Based on the fMRI data, we propose a dual-path model of incongruity resolution and absurd verbal humor. According to this model, the detection and resolution for the incongruity of incongruity resolution humor activate brain regions involved in the temporo-parietal lobe (TPJ) implicated in the integration of multiple information and precuneus, likely to be involved in the ability of perspective taking. The appreciation of incongruity resolution humor activates regions the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), implicated in autobiographic or event memory retrieval, and parahippocampal gyrus (PHG), implying the funny feeling. By contrast, the partial resolution of absurd humor elicits greater activation in the fusiform gyrus which have been implicated in word processing, inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) for the process of incongruity resolution and superior temporal gyrus (STG) for the pragmatic awareness.

Keywords: absurd humor; dual-path model; incongruity resolution humor; perspective taking; pragmatics.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning procedure.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Enhanced BOLD signal activation for incongruity resolution contrast absurd verbal humor. Incongruity resolution verbal humor demonstrated stronger activation in the left MFG (BA 11), left SFG (BA 10), right IPL (BA 40), right TPJ (BA 39), left PreC (BA 31), left PCC (BA 23), and right PHG (BA 28). MFG, middle frontal gyrus; SFG, superior frontal gyrus; IPL, inferior partial lobe; TPJ, temporo-parietal junction; PreC, precuneus; PCC, posterior cingulate gyrus; PHG, parahippocampal gyrus; INC-RES, incongruity resolution humor; ABS, absurd humor.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Enhanced BOLD signal activation for absurd contrast incongruity resolution verbal humor. Absurd verbal humor demonstrated enhanced activation in the left fusiform gyrus (BA 18), right lingual gyrus (BA 18), left IFG (BA 45), and left STG (BA 22). IFG, inferior frontal gyrus; STG, superior temporal gyrus; INC-RES, incongruity resolution humor; ABS, absurd humor.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The dual-path model of incongruity-resolution and absurd verbal humor. The figure indicates the neural circuits of incongruity-resolution and absurd verbal humor. formula image refers that the neural circuits of incongruity-resolution and absurd verbal humor and formula image refers that the neural circuits of and absurd verbal humor.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Alden D. L., Mukherjee A., Hoyer W. D. (2000). The effects of incongruity, surprise and positive moderators on perceived humor in television advertising. J. Advert. 29 1–15. 10.1080/00913367.2000.10673605 - DOI
    1. Andreasen N. C., O’Leary D. S., Cizadlo T., Arndt S., Rezai K., Watkins G. L., et al. (1995). Remembering the past: two facets of episodic memory explored with positron emission tomography. Am. J. Psychiatry 152 1576–1585. 10.1176/ajp.152.11.1576 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Azim E., Mobbs D., Jo B., Menon V., Reiss A. L. (2005). Sex differences in brain activation elicited by humor. PNAS 102 16496–16501. 10.1073/pnas.0408456102 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bartolo A., Benuzzi F., Nocetti L., Baraldi P., Nichelli P. (2006). Humor comprehension and appreciation: an fMRI study. J. Cogn. Neurosci. 18 1789–1798. 10.1162/jocn.2006.18.11.1789 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Beermann U., Ruch W. (2009). How virtuous is humor? Evidence from everyday behavior. Humor 22 395–417. 10.1515/HUMR.2009.023 - DOI

LinkOut - more resources