Impairments of humour comprehension in multiple sclerosis

Ehrlé, Nathalie; Espi, Pauline; Labire, Jennifer; Loizeau, Alice; Ménard, Camille; Bakchine, Serge

doi:10.1016/j.msard.2019.101443

Cited by 12 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…First, it is an underexplored domain. Whereas the literature has documented impairment in humour comprehension and appreciation in other neurodegenerative diseases (Clark et al 2015;Ehrlé et al 2020;Thaler et al 2012), evidence on ALS is very limited.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the motor account of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Verbal humour and its relationship with the cognitive and pragmatic profile

Bambini

Bischetti

Bonomi

et al. 2020

Intl J Lang & Comm Disor

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Background Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) was traditionally described as a disease restricted to the motor system. However, recent findings suggested that it also affects cognition, especially executive functions, social cognition, language and pragmatics. A relevant issue in current research is thus the description of the cognitive phenotype of ALS and the identification of the most vulnerable aspects. Aims The focus was on a communicative phenomenon placed at the crossroads of pragmatic and other cognitive domains, namely humour, which till now has been poorly explored in ALS. The first aim was to investigate whether ALS is associated with impairments in understanding and appreciating jokes. The second aim was to explore the predictors of humour comprehension and appreciation in patients, to confirm the involvement of pragmatic skills and to explore the role of other cognitive and clinical aspects. Methods & Procedures A total of 30 non‐demented patients with ALS and 27 controls were assessed with a task of verbal humour comprehension and appreciation, including two types of jokes: phonological and mental. We also administered a battery of pragmatic and other language tasks, and cognitive and socio‐cognitive tasks. Mixed‐effects models were used to test differences in the humour task between the two groups. Multiple regressions determined the best predictors of humour comprehension and appreciation in patients. Outcomes & Results Patients obtained lower comprehension accuracy scores than controls in the humour task, independently of the type of joke. Conversely, patients and controls did not differ in joke appreciation and both rated mental jokes as funnier than the phonological ones. Patients’ comprehension accuracy was predicted by pragmatic skills and ALS severity, whereas appreciation was predicted by several clinical variables and, to a smaller extent, by language skills. Conclusions & Implications The findings suggest that humour is a very vulnerable aspect in ALS, and that impairment in humour comprehension might be part of the larger cognitive impairment, being linked to pragmatic impairment. Clinical variables were also important, especially in relation to humour appreciation. More generally, these data speak in favour of pragmatics as a relevant aspect to sketch the cognitive phenotype of ALS. On the practical level, these findings point to the need of supporting communication at large, not only motor‐related aspects such as dysarthria but also social–pragmatic aspects such as understanding jokes, to increase well‐being in ALS.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the motor account of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Verbal humour and its relationship with the cognitive and pragmatic profile

Bambini

Bischetti

Bonomi

et al. 2020

Intl J Lang & Comm Disor

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“…Contrary to findings for the VNT, we showed that auditory naming ability was not significantly different between pwMS and HC. PwMS have previously demonstrated greater deficits in visual relative to auditory processes: one evoked potentials study in pwMS identified higher rates of abnormality in visual versus auditory (56 vs. 32%) modalities, corresponding to clinically unsuspected lesions found in 42% versus 21%, respectively (Chiappa, 1980); greater impairments in humour comprehension were observed with visual (line drawings) versus auditory material (text passage read out loud by examiner; Ehrle et al, 2019). While it could be argued that the visual pathways are perhaps more extensively affected by MS‐related disease than auditory pathways, these study findings may also be partially explained by the visual dominance theory (Spence, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Word finding, prosody and social cognition in multiple sclerosis

Yap

Davenport

Cogley

et al. 2022

Journal of Neuropsychology

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Background: Impairments in speech and social cognition have been reported in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), although their relationships with neuropsychological outcomes and their clinical utility in MS are unclear. Objectives: To evaluate word finding, prosody and social cognition in pwMS relative to healthy controls (HC). Methods: We recruited people with relapsing MS (RMS, n = 21), progressive MS (PMS, n = 24) and HC (n = 25) from an outpatient MS clinic. Participants completed a battery of word-finding, social cognitive, neuropsychological and clinical assessments and performed a speech task for prosodic analysis. Results: Of 45 pwMS, mean (SD) age was 49.4 (9.4) years, and median (range) Expanded Disability Severity Scale score was 3.5 (1.0-6.5). Compared with HC, pwMS were older and had slower information processing speed (measured with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, SDMT) and higher depression scores. Most speech and social cognitive measures were associated with information processing speed but not with depression. Unlike speech, social cognition consistently correlated with intelligence and memory. Visual naming test mean response time (VNT-MRT) demonstrated worse outcomes in MS versus HC ( p = .

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“…Mai son-Blan che li go ni nës (Reim sas, Pran cû zi ja) Neuro lo gi jos de par ta men to neu ro lo gai kar tu su kvies ti ne ty rëja 2019 m. pa skel bë straips ná apie ty ri mà, ku riuo pir mà kar tà bu vo pa ban dy ta ið si aið kin ti skir tin gø hu mo ro for mø vaid me ná, gy dant pa cien tus, ser gan èius RRIS [24]. Pirmiau sia bu vo ið si aið kin ta, kaip da ly viai ap tin ka ir su vo kia hu mo ris ti në je uþ duo ty je esa mà ne ati tik tá ir su si ku ria tam tik rà spren di mo lû kes tá.…”

Section: Atoþvalga á Humoro Supratimà Gydant Serganèiuosius Isunclassified

“…Pran cû zi jo je, Reim so mies te esan èios Mai son-Blan che li go ni nës Neu ro lo gi jos de par ta men to neu ro lo gø ty ri mas pa tvir ti no, kad kai ku riais at ve jais ser gan tie ji RRIS ið ties pras tokai su vo kia aukð tes niø kog ni ty vi niø pro ce sø sri èiai pri ski ria mà hu mo rà [24]. Vis dël to, ty ri mo ei go je pa aið këjo, kad tam tik ru gy dy mo as pek tu, pa vyz dþiui, ávei kiant stre sà, hu mo ro pa si tel ki mas ga li bû ti pa kan ka mai efek tyvus.…”

Section: Humoro Supratimas -Serganèiøjø Is Streso Ir Sàveikos áTampos...unclassified

Humour in the management of multiple sclerosis: a scoping review

Šeduikienė,

Matonis

2023

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Background. Although investigations of the use of humour in the management of people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) are not numerous, some significant findings have created the need to go deeper into the topic.Main research question. What are some of the potential benefits of humour in the management of PwMS, given the current state of scientific knowledge?Materials and methods. A scoping review was conducted using the PRISMA-ScR methodology. Information for the literature review was collected from the PubMed and Embase databases using the keywords “humour” and “multiple sclerosis”. Overall, 10 scientific investigations were analysed, grouped, interpreted, and generalized.Results. The research revealed: humour-based stress reduction for PwMS; the relationship between executive function and humour coping in PwMS; the distinctive influence of humour on employment status among individuals with relapsing-remiting multiple sclerosis (RRMS); the relationship between humour and personal long-term prognosis in PwMS; and the differences in perception of humour in PwMS.Conclusions. Appropriate use of humour (among other factors) can significantly improve the neuropsychological status in persons with RRMS and help them staying employed. Executive function and personalized long-term prognosis for PwMS are to some extent related to humor. Group analyses revealed lower scores in RRMS patients on humoristic visual tasks compared to scores on verbal tasks, and PwMS had impaired comprehension of figurative and humorous items compared to their comprehension of the literal items of simple medical responses.

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Impairments of humour comprehension in multiple sclerosis

Cited by 12 publications

References 39 publications

Beyond the motor account of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Verbal humour and its relationship with the cognitive and pragmatic profile

Beyond the motor account of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Verbal humour and its relationship with the cognitive and pragmatic profile

Word finding, prosody and social cognition in multiple sclerosis

Humour in the management of multiple sclerosis: a scoping review

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