The Frog Test: A Tool for Measuring Humor Theories' Validity and Humor Preferences

Amir, Ori

doi:10.3389/fnhum.2016.00040

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Based on the discovery of a gradient of μ-opioid receptors (Lewis et al, 1981) peaking in associative regions in the temporal lobes, activation in semantic temporal association regions (TMP) has been found to be pleasurable and likely a factor in the feeling of mirth itself (Biederman and Vessel, 2006). That temporal associations tend to elicit positive emotions has been documented in preferences for scenes (Yue et al, 2007), simple shapes (Amir et al, 2011) and jokes (Amir et al, 2015; Amir, 2016). Thus, it was not surprising that we found greater activation there during humor creation during which, presumably, remote associations are generated and linked in the process of joke construction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Neural Correlates of Humor Creativity

Amir

Biederman

2016

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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Unlike passive humor appreciation, the neural correlates of real-time humor creation have been unexplored. As a case study for creativity, humor generation uniquely affords a reliable assessment of a creative product’s quality with a clear and relatively rapid beginning and end, rendering it amenable to neuroimaging that has the potential for reflecting individual differences in expertise. Professional and amateur “improv” comedians and controls viewed New Yorker cartoon drawings while being scanned. For each drawing, they were instructed to generate either a humorous or a mundane caption. Greater comedic experience was associated with decreased activation in the striatum and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), but increased activation in temporal association regions (TMP). Less experienced comedians manifested greater activation of mPFC, reflecting their deliberate search through TMP association space. Professionals, by contrast, tend to reap the fruits of their spontaneous associations with reduced reliance on top-down guided search.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Neural Correlates of Humor Creativity

Amir

Biederman

2016

Front. Hum. Neurosci.

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“…caricature) form ( Watson et al. , 2007 ; Amir, 2016 ). The processing of a humorous stimulus, rather than its creation, is most commonly described in the cognitive literature as detection of incongruity followed by its resolution, which may lead to an amused response ( Suls, 1972 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mapping the ‘funny bone’: neuroanatomical correlates of humor creativity in professional comedians

Brawer

Amir

2021

Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

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What are the neuroanatomical correlates of expertise in a specific creative domain? Professional comedians, amateurs, and controls underwent a T1 MRI anatomical scan. Measures of cortical surface area (gyrification and sulcal depth) and thickness were extracted for each participant. Compared to controls, professional comedians had greater cortical surface area in the left inferior temporal gyrus, angular gyrus, precuneus, and right medial prefrontal cortex. These regions have been previously implicated in abstract, divergent thinking and the default-mode network. The high degree of overlap between the regions of greater surface area in professional comedians with the regions showing greater activation in the same group during comedy improvisation in our previous work (particularly the temporal regions and angular gyrus), suggests these regions may be specifically involved in humor creativity.

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