Poster No:
711
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Yu-Chen Chan1
Institutions:
1National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
First Author:
Introduction:
An increasing amount of research focuses on how different sexes perceive humor involving aggression. The results are nuanced, implying divisions among various forms of aggression, and the underlying neural mechanisms and behaviors are still fully characterized (Chan, 2016). The Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ) has been used in many studies. However, in this study, the HSQ was replaced with a two-panel cartoon, the first of which was set up to establish the situation (setup stage) and the second of which offered an unexpected and humorous resolution (punch line stage) (Chan et al., 2023).
Methods:
Participant
A total of 94 participants were recruited-47 men and 47 women, all right-handed and ages 20 to 35. The Research Ethics Committee of National Tsing Hua University approved all experimental procedures.
Stimuli
Each stimulus consisted of two stages: a setup and a punch line. The setup was to generate expectations, while the punch line violated the expectations established by the setup (Chan et al., 2023)-a total of 40 two-stage aggressive humor styles and 20 two-stage non-humor (i.e., baseline).
Experimental paradigm
The fMRI paradigm employed in this investigation was event-related. Pre-scan (practice), in-scan (fMRI scanning), and post-scan (debriefing) phases were carried out by the participants. The participants were initially presented with a fixation for every trial. They provided the setup and punch line. The participants used the response pad to rate the level of funniness (from 1 to 4). Four runs in all, given in a counterbalanced order for each participant, were conducted. Each participant's fMRI session lasted for about 45 minutes.
Image acquisition
A Siemens Magnetom Prisma 3 T scanner was used to collect the MRI data. The E-Prime 3 program was used to display the visual stimuli. Multiband interleaved echo-planar imaging (EPI) with an acceleration factor of three was used to acquire functional images. The pulse sequence used was TR = 1000 ms, TE = 30 ms, FA = 60, number of slices = 39, and voxel size = 3.43mm×3.43mm×3.40 mm.
Image analysis
We used an event-related analysis procedure to enter each participant's preprocessed data into a general linear model (GLM). For each participant, the contrasts and conjunction analyses were p-valued (family-wise error) at a significance level of .05.
Results:
During humor comprehension (incongruity-resolution) of the aggressive humor style, women showed greater activation than men in the bilateral posterior superior temporal gyri (pSTG), left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), and bilateral inferior parietal gyri (dorsal attention network). However, men demonstrated greater activation than women in the bilateral IFG and right temporoparietal junction (TPJ, ventral attention network). During humor appreciation (amusement or mirth) of the aggressive humor style, women displayed greater activation than men in the left substantial nigra of the midbrain, while men exhibited greater activation than women in the anterior insula (salience network) and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). The results of conjunction analysis showed women and men greater activation in the left amygdala, midbrain, OFC, anterior insula, and TPJ during humor appreciation.
Conclusions:
Previous research on "general humor" revealed that women displayed more activity in the amygdala, midbrain, insula, and OFC during humor appreciation (e.g., Chan, 2016). Nonetheless, the present study focused on the "aggressive humor style," the findings indicated that sex differences existed in how aggressive humor was appreciated. Whereas women displayed more activation in the limbic network (such as the midbrain), men demonstrated more robust activation in the salience network (such as the anterior insula).
Emotion, Motivation and Social Neuroscience:
Social Cognition
Social Neuroscience Other 2
Emotion and Motivation Other 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Activation (eg. BOLD task-fMRI)
Novel Imaging Acquisition Methods:
BOLD fMRI
Keywords:
Cognition
Emotions
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Limbic Systems
Other - Humor
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Chan, Y. C. (2016). Neural correlates of sex/gender differences in humor processing for different joke types. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 536.
Chan, Y. C., Zeitlen, D. C., & Beaty, R. E. (2023). Amygdala-frontoparietal effective connectivity in creativity and humor processing. Human Brain Mapping, 44(6), 2585-2606.