Researchers Pinpoint Brain's Sarcasm Sensor

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Without it, snappy comments are a mystery.
By Randy Dotinga
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) — Oh yeah, right!

No, it's true — many of you don't go a day without dishing out several doses of sarcasm. But some brain-damaged people can't comprehend sarcasm, and Israeli researchers think it's because a specific brain region has gone dark.

The region, according to the researchers, handles the task of detecting hidden meaning, a crucial component of sarcasm. If that part of the brain is out of commission, the irony doesn't come through, the scientists report in the May issue of Neuropsychology.

"People with prefrontal brain damage suffer from difficulties in understanding other people's mental states, and they lack empathy," said study co-author Simone Shamay-Tsoory, a researcher at the University of Haifa. "Therefore, they can't understand what the speaker really is talking about, and get only the literal meaning."

The findings, Shamay-Tsoory said, could help rehabilitation centers do a better job of helping brain-damaged patients adjust to the world and understand other people.

More at http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Healthology/story?id=782761

This seems to explain the irony-deficient folks at FR. :-) Interesting this is the same areas of the brain responsible for recognizing others' mental states. You have to have empathy to be snarky.

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1. "Pinpoint" and discussion of FR brains just go hand in hand n/t

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3. Bwahaha!

:D

[leftofthedial]

9. couldn't have said it better myself

RWers are incapable of perceiving either irony or sarcasm

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. Yeah, and I just said "no" to a date with Natalie Portman

:7

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4. Of course, you did

[undeterred]

5. Yeah, like everyone doesn't already know that

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6. Yes, I see it all so clearly now

:silly:

[kick-ass-bob]

7. WOW! My specific brain region must be blinding.

:D

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10. .

B-)

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8. Well isn't that special??