The Funny Bone’s in Your Head

Advances in brain imaging have enabled neuroscientists to pin down how the brain reacts when a joke tickles us.

Advances in brain imaging have enabled neuroscientists to pin down how the brain reacts when a joke tickles us. They are now solving the puzzle of why some jokes are funny to some people, but leave others cold. Scientists used functional MRI to scan brains of volunteers while they watched popular TV sitcoms. A distinct pattern of neural activity occurred in response to a funny joke, with regions normally linked to language comprehension and the ability to adjust the focus of our attention showing the most activity.

Further research uncovered a second spike of activity in the region associated with dopamine release and reward processing, which may explain the pleasure felt once you ‘get’ the joke. Level of activity in one particular part of the limbic system— the ventral striatum—corresponded with the perceived funniness of a joke. It’s the region involved in many different types of rewards, from drugs, to sex and one’s favourite music. Humour thus taps into basic reward systems that are important to our survival.