Verbal irony processing: How do contrast and humour correlate?

International audienceVerbal irony relies on contrast, that is, incongruity between the situational context and the ironic assertion. But is the degree of contrast related to the perceived humorousness of ironic comments? We answered this question by conducting two experiments. In the first experiment, participants were asked to read a list of sentence pairs (ironic or control) and judge the extent to which the meaning of the first sentence contrasted with that of the second. In the second experiment, participants were invited to rate the humorousness of ironic comments compared with their literal counterparts. Results showed that ironic remarks were rated as more contrasting and more humorous than their literal counterparts, but that humour only emerged from a moderate contrast

Theory of mind and irony comprehension in children with cerebral palsy

International audienceThe main goal of the present study was to characterise the pragmatic abilities of French children with cerebral palsy through their understanding of irony and other people’s mental states. We predicted that children with cerebral palsy would have difficulty understanding false-belief and ironic remarks, due to the executive dysfunction that accompanies the motor disorders of cerebral palsy. We conducted an experiment in which children with cerebral palsy and typically developing matched controls performed theory-of-mind and executive function tasks. They then listened to ironic stories and answered questions about the speakers’ beliefs and attitudes. The groups differed significantly on second-order theory of mind, irony comprehension and working memory, indicating pragmatic difficulties in children with cerebral palsy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

Differential bilateral involvement of the parietal gyrus during predicative metaphor processing: An auditory fMRI study

International audienceDespite the growing literature on figurative language processing, there is still debate as to which cognitive processes and neural bases are involved. Furthermore, most studies have focused on nominal metaphor processing without any context, and very few have used auditory presentation. We therefore investigated the neural bases of the comprehension of predicative metaphors presented in a brief context, in an auditory, ecological way. The comprehension of their literal counterparts served as a control condition. We also investigated the link between working memory and verbal skills and regional activation. Comparisons of metaphorical and literal conditions revealed bilateral activation of parietal areas including the left angular (lAG) and right inferior parietal gyri (rIPG) and right precuneus. Only verbal skills were associated with lAG (but not rIPG) activation. These results indicated that predicative metaphor comprehension share common activations with other metaphors. Furthermore, individual verbal skills could have an impact on figurative language processing

Differential bilateral involvement of the parietal gyrus during predicative metaphor processing: An auditory fMRI study

International audienceDespite the growing literature on figurative language processing, there is still debate as to which cognitiveprocesses and neural bases are involved. Furthermore, most studies have focused on nominalmetaphor processing without any context, and very few have used auditory presentation. We thereforeinvestigated the neural bases of the comprehension of predicative metaphors presented in a brief context,in an auditory, ecological way. The comprehension of their literal counterparts served as a control condition.We also investigated the link between working memory and verbal skills and regional activation.Comparisons of metaphorical and literal conditions revealed bilateral activation of parietal areas includingthe left angular (lAG) and right inferior parietal gyri (rIPG) and right precuneus. Only verbal skillswere associated with lAG (but not rIPG) activation. These results indicated that predicative metaphorcomprehension share common activations with other metaphors. Furthermore, individual verbal skillscould have an impact on figurative language processing

Neural Correlates of Contrast and Humor: Processing Common Features of Verbal Irony

International audienceIrony is a kind of figurative language used by a speaker to say something that contrasts with the context and, to some extent, lends humor to a situation. However, little is known about the brain regions that specifically support the processing of these two common features of irony. The present study had two main aims: (i) investigate the neural basis of irony processing, by delivering short ironic spoken sentences (and their literal counterparts) to participants undergoing fMRI; and (ii) assess the neural effect of two irony parameters, obtained from normative studies: degree of contrast and humor appreciation. Results revealed activation of the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), posterior part of the left superior temporal gyrus, medial frontal cortex, and left caudate during irony processing, suggesting the involvement of both semantic and theory-of-mind networks. Parametric models showed that contrast was specifically associated with the activation of bilateral frontal and subcortical areas, and that these regions were also sensitive to humor, as shown by a conjunction analysis. Activation of the bilateral IFG is consistent with the literature on humor processing, and reflects incongruity detection/resolution processes. Moreover, the activation of subcortical structures can be related to the reward processing of social events

Exploring quality of life in people with slowly-progressive neuromuscular disease

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Analysis of gene transcription in sera during chronic hepatitis C infection.

International audienceAlternative, non-invasive techniques are necessary to monitor the progression of liver disease during chronic hepatitis C. Firstly, because serum is the most accessible material for studies using qPCR in microplates, gene transcription was compared in 219 selected genes involved in the pathogenesis of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection between sera, PBMCs and liver samples collected simultaneously from five patients infected chronically. Secondly, using sera, gene profiles were compared between HCV-infected patients (n = 10) and healthy controls (n = 10). In addition, the influence of alcohol intake was examined in patients infected with HCV genotype-1. Firstly, amplifiable mRNAs were obtained in all samples. After amplification, significant correlations were observed between: liver versus serum; liver versus PBMCs; and serum versus PBMCs (r(2) = 0.37, r(2) = 0.54, r(2) = 0.49, respectively). A comparison of gene transcription by gene involved in T- and B-cell markers, adhesion molecules, apoptosis, liver matrix turnover and inflammation, revealed comparable, significant correlations between serum and liver, (r(2) = 0.30, r(2) = 0.60, r(2) = 0.51, r(2) = 0.51, r(2) = 0.26, and r(2) = 0.61 respectively). Secondly, a quantitative analysis of gene expression in sera between genotype-1b-infected patients and healthy controls revealed that 41 genes involved closely in T-cell activation and apoptosis were over-expressed significantly in patients infected with HCV. In these patients, alcohol consumption was associated with an increased expression of six genes involved in the inflammatory response, together with a decrease of genes associated with dendritic cell function. It is concluded that in patients infected with HCV, serum can be used to evaluate expression of liver genes. Further prospective studies are clearly needed to validate the initial results and to define the relevant genes

Behavioral data per participants and per items.

<p>Behavioral data per participants and per items.</p

Activation for the Contrast (blue) and Humor (green) effects.

<p><i>p</i> < 0.001 uncorrected, k = 20 voxels. Common activations were localized in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus and left caudate.</p