Neural correlates underlying the comprehension of deceitful and ironic communicative intentions

Bosco, Francesca; Parola, Alberto; Valentini, Maria Consuelo; Morese, Rosalba

doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2017.06.010

Cited by 49 publications

(56 citation statements)

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“…When the speaker produces the irony, they expect the listener to detect whereas the speaker does not expect the listener to recognize the deceit. One study explored the neural activations underlying the irony and deceitful statements [11]. Healthy individuals read statements used in sincere, deceitful, and ironic way (e.g., It's a beautiful day.).…”

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confidence: 99%

Prefrontal Cortex: Role in Language Communication during Social Interaction

Jiang¹

2018

Prefrontal Cortex

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One important question that remains open for the relationship between the brain and social behavior is whether and how prefrontal mechanisms responsible for social cognitive processes take place in language communication. Conventional studies have highlighted the role of inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in processing context-independent linguistic information in speech and discourse. However, it is unclear how the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC), and other structures (such as medial superior frontal gyrus, premotor cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, etc.) are involved when socially relevant language is encountered in real-life scenarios. Emerging neuroimaging and patient studies have suggested the association of prefrontal regions with individual differences and impairments in the comprehension of speech act, nonliteral language, or construction-based pragmatic information. By summarizing and synthesizing the most recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, this chapter aims to show how neurocognitive components underlying the social function of prefrontal cortex support pragmatic language processing, such as weighing relevant social signals, resolving ambiguities, and identifying hidden speaker meanings. The conclusion lends impact on an emerging interest in neuropragmatics and points out a promising line of research to address the mediating role of prefrontal cortex in the relation of language and social cognition.

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confidence: 99%

Prefrontal Cortex: Role in Language Communication during Social Interaction

Jiang¹

2018

Prefrontal Cortex

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The TPJ was also found to be active in irony comprehension (Bosco et al, 2017b ). More specifically, the left TPJ has an important role in understanding communicative intentions (Walter et al, 2004 ; Saxe and Wexler, 2005 ; Ciaramidaro et al, 2007 ; Bosco et al, 2017b ). Increasing evidence from neurocognitive studies indicates that the right TPJ also plays a crucial role in several aspects of social cognition (Decety and Lamm, 2007 ; Schurz et al, 2014 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Remarkably, while processing the social context phase, the SG mobilized widespread brain areas not only in the temporo-parietal regions, but also in the frontal, as well as in the subcortical regions, which suggest a great effort to cope with substantial linguistic, cognitive, and emotional load during the comprehension of the social context of irony (Varga et al, 2013 ; Bosco et al, 2017b ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recently, an increasing number of fMRI studies have investigated the neural basis of irony comprehension. Since irony is a special figure of thought, depending upon different cognitive operations, many studies found activations in some typical regions of the ToM network (Uchiyama et al, 2006 ; Wang et al, 2006b ; Shamay-Tsoory and Aharon-Peretz, 2007 ; Wakusawa et al, 2007 ; Rapp et al, 2010 , 2012 ; Shibata et al, 2010 ; Bohrn et al, 2012 ; Spotorno et al, 2012 ; Bosco et al, 2017b ), as well as of the semantic and executive system (Eviatar and Just, 2006 ; Rapp et al, 2010 , 2012 ; Spotorno et al, 2012 ; Bosco et al, 2017b ). In line with previous suggestions (Spotorno et al, 2012 ; Obert et al, 2016 ) Van Ackeren et al ( 2016 ) demonstrated using connectivity analysis that ToM and language networks interact while interpreting indirect speech acts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Altered Neural Activity during Irony Comprehension in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—An fMRI Study

et al. 2018

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Irony is a type of figurative language in which the literal meaning of the expression is the opposite of what the speaker intends to communicate. Even though schizophrenic patients are known as typically impaired in irony comprehension and in the underlying neural functions, to date no one has explored the neural correlates of figurative language comprehension in first-degree relatives of schizophrenic patients. In the present study, we examined the neural correlates of irony understanding in schizophrenic patients and in unaffected first-degree relatives of patients compared to healthy adults with functional MRI. Our aim was to investigate if possible alterations of the neural circuits supporting irony comprehension in first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia would fulfill the familiality criterion of an endophenotype. We examined 12 schizophrenic patients, 12 first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients and 12 healthy controls with functional MRI while they were performing irony and control tasks. Different phases of irony processing were examined, such as context processing and ironic statement comprehension. Patients had significantly more difficulty understanding irony than controls or relatives. Patients also showed markedly different neural activation pattern compared to controls in both stages of irony processing. Although no significant differences were found in the performance of the irony tasks between the control group and the relative group, during the fMRI analysis, the relatives showed stronger brain activity in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during the context processing phase of irony tasks than the control group. However, the controls demonstrated higher activations in the left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and in the right inferior frontal gyrus during the ironic statement phase of the irony tasks than the relative group. Our results show that despite good task performance, first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients had alterations in the neural circuits during irony processing. Thus, we suggest that neural alteration of irony comprehension could be a potential endophenotypic marker of schizophrenia.

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The Form and Content of Vignette Stimuli in Irony Research with Adult Participants

Kałowski,

Branowska

2024

Studying Verbal Irony and Sarcasm

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Neural correlates underlying the comprehension of deceitful and ironic communicative intentions

Cited by 49 publications

References 84 publications

Prefrontal Cortex: Role in Language Communication during Social Interaction

Prefrontal Cortex: Role in Language Communication during Social Interaction

Altered Neural Activity during Irony Comprehension in Unaffected First-Degree Relatives of Schizophrenia Patients—An fMRI Study

The Form and Content of Vignette Stimuli in Irony Research with Adult Participants

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