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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 17 of 17. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Snowie on December 3, 2000, at 17:06:11
I'm not sure where to put this, but since this article deals with depression issues and education, figured I'd post it here. Interesting article from Medscape.
Snowie
Location of Sense of Humor Discovered
November 30, 2000
MedscapeWireResearchers may have found the location of sense of humor in the brain, according to their presentation at the 86th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, Illinois.
Humor appreciation appears to be based in the lower frontal lobes of the brain, a location associated with social and emotional judgment and planning, according to imaging research. That might explain why people who have suffered strokes involving the lower frontal lobes of the brain may have alterations of personality which include loss of their sense of humor.
"A small part of the frontal lobes appears critical to our ability to recognize a joke," said Dean K. Shibata, MD, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York, and principal investigator of a study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map activity in the brain while it is registering humor. "Although the purpose of humor and laughter is still largely unknown despite 2,000 years of speculation, having a sense of humor is a key part of our personalities and it can play a powerful role in balancing negative emotions, such as fear.
"There have been few studies of humor's place in the brain, but understanding the basis of positive emotions will likely be as helpful as understanding the negative ones," he said. "In the future, scans of brain activity might be used routinely by psychiatrists to assess patients who have mood disorders such as depression, which often is accompanied by a loss of humor. Using humor and other emotional stimuli might be helpful in bringing out functional brain abnormalities not shown by other techniques."
In the study, fMRI scans were performed on 13 people in a series of 4 exams. In the first exam, the people were asked to listen to laughter and laugh along internally. In the second, the people listened to the laughter but were asked not to laugh along. In the third scan, the people read written jokes, and in the fourth test they viewed a series of wordless cartoons.
Researchers found when the people laughed, activity was seen in the anterior supplemental motor area (SMA), a location near the top of the brain normally associated with planning movement and the initiation of speech. In contrast to laughter alone, when people viewed written jokes and cartoons, tasks which require more complex comprehension of humor, activity was most prominent in the ventromedial frontal lobe (VMF). All 4 scans showed activity in the nucleus accumbens, a small area in the base of the brain linked to pleasure and implicated as a key site in moderating drug addiction.
"As with almost any behavior, we found that laughing at a joke involves several parts of the brain," said Dr. Shibata. "Our imaging results show that while the ventromedial frontal lobe is likely the center for telling you what's funny, the accompanying laughter and feeling of mirth may be triggered by connections to other areas of the brain which are involved in motor control [moving the mouth] and positive emotions.
The anterior frontal lobes perform less obvious functions than other parts of the brain and in the past were regarded by some surgeons as expendable for daily functions, said Dr. Shibata. But as revealed by the outdated practice of frontal lobotomies, this area of the brain is responsible for much of our complex social and emotional behavior, he said.
Posted by SLS on December 3, 2000, at 21:01:27
In reply to Location of Sense of Humor Discovered, posted by Snowie on December 3, 2000, at 17:06:11
I have seen this before. It's a hoax. Don't pay any attention to it. It is a practical joke being passed around as a chain-letter and hacked into medical databases for the benefit of humorless neuroscientists.
I'm serious.
- Scott
> I'm not sure where to put this, but since this article deals with depression issues and education, figured I'd post it here. Interesting article from Medscape.
>
> Snowie
>
> Location of Sense of Humor Discovered
> November 30, 2000
> MedscapeWire
>
> Researchers may have found the location of sense of humor in the brain, according to their presentation at the 86th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago, Illinois.
>
> Humor appreciation appears to be based in the lower frontal lobes of the brain, a location associated with social and emotional judgment and planning, according to imaging research. That might explain why people who have suffered strokes involving the lower frontal lobes of the brain may have alterations of personality which include loss of their sense of humor.
>
> "A small part of the frontal lobes appears critical to our ability to recognize a joke," said Dean K. Shibata, MD, assistant professor of radiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine in New York, and principal investigator of a study using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map activity in the brain while it is registering humor. "Although the purpose of humor and laughter is still largely unknown despite 2,000 years of speculation, having a sense of humor is a key part of our personalities and it can play a powerful role in balancing negative emotions, such as fear.
>
> "There have been few studies of humor's place in the brain, but understanding the basis of positive emotions will likely be as helpful as understanding the negative ones," he said. "In the future, scans of brain activity might be used routinely by psychiatrists to assess patients who have mood disorders such as depression, which often is accompanied by a loss of humor. Using humor and other emotional stimuli might be helpful in bringing out functional brain abnormalities not shown by other techniques."
>
> In the study, fMRI scans were performed on 13 people in a series of 4 exams. In the first exam, the people were asked to listen to laughter and laugh along internally. In the second, the people listened to the laughter but were asked not to laugh along. In the third scan, the people read written jokes, and in the fourth test they viewed a series of wordless cartoons.
>
> Researchers found when the people laughed, activity was seen in the anterior supplemental motor area (SMA), a location near the top of the brain normally associated with planning movement and the initiation of speech. In contrast to laughter alone, when people viewed written jokes and cartoons, tasks which require more complex comprehension of humor, activity was most prominent in the ventromedial frontal lobe (VMF). All 4 scans showed activity in the nucleus accumbens, a small area in the base of the brain linked to pleasure and implicated as a key site in moderating drug addiction.
>
> "As with almost any behavior, we found that laughing at a joke involves several parts of the brain," said Dr. Shibata. "Our imaging results show that while the ventromedial frontal lobe is likely the center for telling you what's funny, the accompanying laughter and feeling of mirth may be triggered by connections to other areas of the brain which are involved in motor control [moving the mouth] and positive emotions.
>
> The anterior frontal lobes perform less obvious functions than other parts of the brain and in the past were regarded by some surgeons as expendable for daily functions, said Dr. Shibata. But as revealed by the outdated practice of frontal lobotomies, this area of the brain is responsible for much of our complex social and emotional behavior, he said.
Posted by Dr. Bob on December 4, 2000, at 9:12:39
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered, posted by SLS on December 3, 2000, at 21:01:27
Hi, everyone,
I guess that was an example of a sense of humor? Well, word gets around. Here's a response from Dr. Shibata. :-)
Bob
--------
Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 08:57:17 -0500
From: Dean Shibata, M.D.I would like to confirm that the research is in fact entirely real. I conducted the scans here at the University of Rochester and presented them last week at the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) in Chicago.
You can look up the press releases or meeting abstract listing from the RSNA meeting at http://rsna.expoexchange.com/content/scientific_program/sciprodetail.asp?key=104214 .
The press release from my university is at http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/News/finding.html .
It was reported on Reuters news wires in health and science and at http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001127/hl/brain_2.html and http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/living/dailynews/humor001128.html . It should be featured in the New York Times Tuesday science section.
It's interesting that this story would provoke such a reaction. It's definitely not a "joke" or "hoax". I'm not a hacker.
Posted by Cam W. on December 4, 2000, at 12:52:22
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered, posted by Dr. Bob on December 4, 2000, at 9:12:39
>I'm not a hacker. - Prove It, Dr.B!
I saw the same study and it looked legitimate to me. - Cam
Posted by Snowie on December 4, 2000, at 17:38:31
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered, posted by Dr. Bob on December 4, 2000, at 9:12:39
Thank you. I contacted Medscape after Scott's response since I felt as if the joke was on me. This article is listed on their website, and was emailed to me in a newsletter. I feel somewhat vindicated. :-)
Snowie
> Hi, everyone,
>
> I guess that was an example of a sense of humor? Well, word gets around. Here's a response from Dr. Shibata. :-)
>
> Bob
>
> --------
>
> Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 08:57:17 -0500
> From: Dean Shibata, M.D.
>
> I would like to confirm that the research is in fact entirely real. I conducted the scans here at the University of Rochester and presented them last week at the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) in Chicago.
>
> You can look up the press releases or meeting abstract listing from the RSNA meeting at http://rsna.expoexchange.com/content/scientific_program/sciprodetail.asp?key=104214 .
>
> The press release from my university is at http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/News/finding.html .
>
> It was reported on Reuters news wires in health and science and at http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001127/hl/brain_2.html and http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/living/dailynews/humor001128.html . It should be featured in the New York Times Tuesday science section.
>
> It's interesting that this story would provoke such a reaction. It's definitely not a "joke" or "hoax". I'm not a hacker.
Posted by allisonm on December 4, 2000, at 18:37:39
In reply to Location of Sense of Humor Discovered, posted by Snowie on December 3, 2000, at 17:06:11
I live in Rochester, NY, and can confirm that it made Page One of the local paper here the other day. I'll try to find it on their web site.
Allison
Posted by allisonm on December 4, 2000, at 18:50:42
In reply to Location of Sense of Humor Discovered, posted by Snowie on December 3, 2000, at 17:06:11
Here's the address of the article. It's got his picture, too...
http://www.Rochesternews.com/1128ur.html
Posted by SLS on December 4, 2000, at 23:10:29
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered, posted by Dr. Bob on December 4, 2000, at 9:12:39
Hi, everyone.
I made the mistake of not putting in a smiley face. I didn't think it was necessary.
I'm serious.
:-(
Crap.
The whole thing makes perfect sense to me, and I never had any doubts of its legitamacy.
Sorry.
- Scott
> Hi, everyone,
>
> I guess that was an example of a sense of humor? Well, word gets around. Here's a response from Dr. Shibata. :-)
>
> Bob
>
> --------
>
> Date: Mon, 04 Dec 2000 08:57:17 -0500
> From: Dean Shibata, M.D.
>
> I would like to confirm that the research is in fact entirely real. I conducted the scans here at the University of Rochester and presented them last week at the RSNA (Radiological Society of North America) in Chicago.
>
> You can look up the press releases or meeting abstract listing from the RSNA meeting at http://rsna.expoexchange.com/content/scientific_program/sciprodetail.asp?key=104214 .
>
> The press release from my university is at http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/pr/News/finding.html .
>
> It was reported on Reuters news wires in health and science and at http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001127/hl/brain_2.html and http://more.abcnews.go.com/sections/living/dailynews/humor001128.html . It should be featured in the New York Times Tuesday science section.
>
> It's interesting that this story would provoke such a reaction. It's definitely not a "joke" or "hoax". I'm not a hacker.
Posted by SLS on December 4, 2000, at 23:33:56
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered :-) :-(, posted by SLS on December 4, 2000, at 23:10:29
To whom it may concern:
I still can't believe the reaction my silly little post has provoked. I can't possibly be that pursuasive. Obviously, I can't possibly be that funny. :-<
I read the article and thought it was great.
I can't apologize enough. I can hardly believe what's happened.
If anyone is in contact with those individuals personally involved in this situation, please extend to them my profuse apologies. I promise that I will never tell another joke for as long as I live. I plan to remove and burn both my anterior frontal cortices and my worthless nucleus accumbens. I will then sprinkle their ashes over my keyboard.
Sincerely,
Scott
Posted by Noa on December 5, 2000, at 6:03:17
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered :-( :-(, posted by SLS on December 4, 2000, at 23:33:56
Scott,
LOL.
As for your previous post, well, it happens to the best of us, eh?
Surprised you can be persuasive???????
SCOTT!! Wake up and smell the respect!
Fondly,
Noa
Posted by Deborah Flapan on December 5, 2000, at 8:50:43
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered :-( :-(, posted by SLS on December 4, 2000, at 23:33:56
In response to several emails that I have received regarding the MedscapeWire news article "Location of Sense of Humor Discovered" (http://Radiology.medscape.com/MedscapeWire/2000/1100/medwire.1130.Location.html), I would like to clear up any misconceptions.
While the headline may have been a bit optimistic (because the data still need to be verified), the article itself is certainly not a hoax. The article was based on a press release from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), at whose annual meeting these data were presented. If you would like to verify this information further, I suggest contacting the RSNA directly. Their Web site is http://www.rsna.org/.
As Dr. Dean K. Shibata, the principal investigator of the study, said in a previous posting, he performed the study and presented the data at the RSNA meeting. Dr. Shibata is an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, New York. I hope this clears up the matter.
Please note that posting a Medscape article to a bulletin board service may be in violation of Medscape's copyright. In the future, please contact the Medscape permissions department (permissions@mail.medscape.com) to receive permission before posting Medscape material. A better way to bring the article to the attention of BBS members is to post the title and URL of the article. Those who wish to read the article can click on the URL.
Thank you for your interest in Medscape.
Sincerely,
Deborah Flapan
Associate Editor
Medscape Inc
dflapan@medscapeinc.com> To whom it may concern:
>
> I still can't believe the reaction my silly little post has provoked. I can't possibly be that pursuasive. Obviously, I can't possibly be that funny. :-<
>
> I read the article and thought it was great.
>
> I can't apologize enough. I can hardly believe what's happened.
>
> If anyone is in contact with those individuals personally involved in this situation, please extend to them my profuse apologies. I promise that I will never tell another joke for as long as I live. I plan to remove and burn both my anterior frontal cortices and my worthless nucleus accumbens. I will then sprinkle their ashes over my keyboard.
>
>
> Sincerely,
> Scott
Posted by Peter S on December 5, 2000, at 12:18:34
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered :-( :-(, posted by Deborah Flapan on December 5, 2000, at 8:50:43
Right here in these posts!
> In response to several emails that I have received regarding the MedscapeWire news article "Location of Sense of Humor Discovered" (http://Radiology.medscape.com/MedscapeWire/2000/1100/medwire.1130.Location.html), I would like to clear up any misconceptions.
>
> While the headline may have been a bit optimistic (because the data still need to be verified), the article itself is certainly not a hoax. The article was based on a press release from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), at whose annual meeting these data were presented. If you would like to verify this information further, I suggest contacting the RSNA directly. Their Web site is http://www.rsna.org/.
>
> As Dr. Dean K. Shibata, the principal investigator of the study, said in a previous posting, he performed the study and presented the data at the RSNA meeting. Dr. Shibata is an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, New York. I hope this clears up the matter.
>
> Please note that posting a Medscape article to a bulletin board service may be in violation of Medscape's copyright. In the future, please contact the Medscape permissions department (permissions@mail.medscape.com) to receive permission before posting Medscape material. A better way to bring the article to the attention of BBS members is to post the title and URL of the article. Those who wish to read the article can click on the URL.
>
> Thank you for your interest in Medscape.
>
> Sincerely,
> Deborah Flapan
> Associate Editor
> Medscape Inc
> dflapan@medscapeinc.com
>
> > To whom it may concern:
> >
> > I still can't believe the reaction my silly little post has provoked. I can't possibly be that pursuasive. Obviously, I can't possibly be that funny. :-<
> >
> > I read the article and thought it was great.
> >
> > I can't apologize enough. I can hardly believe what's happened.
> >
> > If anyone is in contact with those individuals personally involved in this situation, please extend to them my profuse apologies. I promise that I will never tell another joke for as long as I live. I plan to remove and burn both my anterior frontal cortices and my worthless nucleus accumbens. I will then sprinkle their ashes over my keyboard.
> >
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Scott
Posted by Cam W. on December 5, 2000, at 15:22:07
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered :-( :-(, posted by Deborah Flapan on December 5, 2000, at 8:50:43
Okay, Medscape is off of my X-mas list. ;^)
Sorry, Dr.B., wrong board (oops). - Cam
Posted by Snowie on December 5, 2000, at 18:19:09
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered :-( :-(, posted by Deborah Flapan on December 5, 2000, at 8:50:43
Well, Scott, here's a fine mess you've gotten me into. I'm serious. ;-)
As for Ms. Flapan's post, I did read the copyright notice on Medscape before I copied the article, and it said in part: "Personal use of material is permitted for research, scientific and/or information purposes only." Consequently, based on that I did not believe I was in violation of any copyright law since I was posting the article on a free BBS for informational purposes only. I would have linked the article to my post, but you have to register at Medscape, and if some people here are like me, they won't bother reading the article if they have to stop and register. However, I will certainly refrain from posting anything further from Medscape.
Snowie
> In response to several emails that I have received regarding the MedscapeWire news article "Location of Sense of Humor Discovered" (http://Radiology.medscape.com/MedscapeWire/2000/1100/medwire.1130.Location.html), I would like to clear up any misconceptions.
>
> While the headline may have been a bit optimistic (because the data still need to be verified), the article itself is certainly not a hoax. The article was based on a press release from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), at whose annual meeting these data were presented. If you would like to verify this information further, I suggest contacting the RSNA directly. Their Web site is http://www.rsna.org/.
>
> As Dr. Dean K. Shibata, the principal investigator of the study, said in a previous posting, he performed the study and presented the data at the RSNA meeting. Dr. Shibata is an assistant professor of radiology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, New York. I hope this clears up the matter.
>
> Please note that posting a Medscape article to a bulletin board service may be in violation of Medscape's copyright. In the future, please contact the Medscape permissions department (permissions@mail.medscape.com) to receive permission before posting Medscape material. A better way to bring the article to the attention of BBS members is to post the title and URL of the article. Those who wish to read the article can click on the URL.
>
> Thank you for your interest in Medscape.
>
> Sincerely,
> Deborah Flapan
> Associate Editor
> Medscape Inc
> dflapan@medscapeinc.com
>
> > To whom it may concern:
> >
> > I still can't believe the reaction my silly little post has provoked. I can't possibly be that pursuasive. Obviously, I can't possibly be that funny. :-<
> >
> > I read the article and thought it was great.
> >
> > I can't apologize enough. I can hardly believe what's happened.
> >
> > If anyone is in contact with those individuals personally involved in this situation, please extend to them my profuse apologies. I promise that I will never tell another joke for as long as I live. I plan to remove and burn both my anterior frontal cortices and my worthless nucleus accumbens. I will then sprinkle their ashes over my keyboard.
> >
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Scott
Posted by Snowie on December 5, 2000, at 18:39:37
In reply to I guess we were told, weren't we? :-( :-( » Deborah Flapan, posted by Cam W. on December 5, 2000, at 15:22:07
LOL...Cam, obviously nothing is wrong with your ventromedial frontal lobe.
Snowie
> Okay, Medscape is off of my X-mas list. ;^)
>
> Sorry, Dr.B., wrong board (oops). - Cam
Posted by Noa on December 6, 2000, at 19:06:01
In reply to Re: I guess we were told, weren't we? :-( :-( » Cam W., posted by Snowie on December 5, 2000, at 18:39:37
That's "ventromedial frontal lobe stimulated out loud"
Posted by pullmarine on December 7, 2000, at 21:47:25
In reply to Re: Location of Sense of Humor Discovered :-( :-(, posted by Snowie on December 5, 2000, at 18:19:09
Yup. They located the location of cynicism. unfortunatly, it makes up most of the brain. Thus, the cure would require a complete ablation of the organ (which in my opinion, might actually improve most people's thinking and behavior).
on a side note, i'd like to mention that Ambrose bierce defines a cynic as follows:
Cynic, n. A blackguard whose faulty vision sees things as they are, not as they ought to be. Hence the custom among the Scythians of plucking out a cynic's eyes to improve his vision.*
john
source: THe DEvil's dictionary
This is the end of the thread.
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