The reward of a good joke: neural correlates of viewing dynamic displays of stand-up comedy

Abstract

Humor is enjoyable, yet few studies to date have reported that humor engages brain regions involved in reward processing (i.e., the mesolimbic reward system). Even fewer have investigated socially relevant, dynamic displays of real actors telling jokes. Instead, many studies have focused on responses to static cartoons or written jokes in isolation. In the present investigation, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain activation in response to video clips of comedians performing stand-up comedy, a more socially relevant task than reading jokes or cartoons in isolation. Participants watched video clips of eight stand-up comedians, half female/half male, that were prerated by a separate group of participants from the same population as eliciting either high or low levels of amusement, thereby allowing us to control for comedian attributes and comedic style. We found that high-funny clips elicited more activation in several brain regions involved with reward responses, including the nucleus accumbens, caudate, and putamen. A regression with participants' own ratings of humor revealed similar activity in reward areas as well as in regions involved in theory of mind. These findings indicate that dynamic social displays of humor do engage reward responses. The rewarding nature of humor may help explain why it is so valued socially.

Neural Correlates of Contrast and Humor: Processing Common Features of Verbal Irony

“…This system constitutes a network encompassing both cortical (e.g., medial temporal, prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortices) and subcortical areas, including midbrain structures (ventral tegmental area, substantia nigra) and the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens, caudate, putamen) [52]. Data from the literature show that this system is activated during the processing of humorous stimuli such as cartoons [26,53], comedy clips [54], and verbal jokes [29], and could be thus extended to ironic sentence listening.…”

Integration of cognitive and affective networks in humor comprehension

“…Recent neuroimaging studies have indicated that both the lentiform nucleus and the midbrain are implicated in positive reward prediction errors (D'Ardenne et al, 2008;O'Doherty et al, 2006), as well as self-reported happiness and monetary rewards (Knutson and Cooper, 2005;Knutson et al, 2001) and are activated during the detection of attractive faces (Cloutier et al, 2008) and in addiction (Reuter et al, 2005). Studies regarding humor comprehension have indicated that subcortical regions, including the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, midbrain (VTA), and hypothalamus, contribute to the aspect of humor appreciation (Franklin and Adams, 2011;Azim et al, 2005;Mobbs et al, 2003Mobbs et al, , 2005Moran et al, 2004;Schwartz et al, 2008;Vrticka et al, 2013a).…”

“…Over the past decade, many neuroimaging studies have examined the neural substrates involved in humor comprehension (Bekinschtein et al, 2011;Chan et al, 2012aChan et al, , 2012bFranklin and Adams, 2011;Dolan, 2001, 2007;Marinkovic et al, 2011;Mobbs et al, 2003Mobbs et al, , 2005Moran et al, 2004;Neely et al, 2012;Rapp et al, 2008;Samson et al, 2009Samson et al, , 2008Vrticka et al, 2013aVrticka et al, , 2013cWatson et al, 2007;Wild et al, 2006). These studies can be classified into two main groups based on the stimulus modalities used in the experiments: visual and verbal.…”

Ha Ha! Versus Aha! A Direct Comparison of Humor to Nonhumorous Insight for Determining the Neural Correlates of Mirth

“…However, not all insight experiences are funny. Previous imaging studies of humor have contrasted humorous stimuli with the same stimuli without the humorous element (e.g., Mobbs et al 2003;Moran et al 2004;Bartolo et al 2006;Kohn et al 2011), and/or compared different kinds of humor (e.g., Goel and Dolan 2001;Watson et al 2007;Samson et al 2008Samson et al , 2009Franklin and Adams 2011). Unfortunately, a comparison among subtypes of humor necessarily ignores the regions involved in all humor, and a comparison of humorous stimuli to the same stimuli with the humorous element removed may be too broad, as controls lack the element of discovery.…”