Depression is associated with an impaired ability to understand and appreciate humor.
The study recruited 27 inpatients with a diagnosis of major depression and 27 healthy controls, who were asked to complete a computerized task of humor processing.
Participants had to match joke stems with the correct punchline. Cognitive skills thought to be important in understanding humor, such as the ability to infer the beliefs and intentions of others were also addressed.
Patients with depression were significantly more likely to choose the wrong punchline (11.4% and 2.8% incorrect answers respectively, P=<0.05). When they did choose the correct answer, they were less likely to be amused by it (54% compared with 68.8%, P=<0.05)
This impaired humor processing in patients with depression correlated with impaired performance in tests of mentalising and relevant executive cognitive functions. Major depression is associated with dysfunction of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which is thought to play an important role in both mentalising and humor appreciation.
The therapeutic value of humor has been recognized since the 17th century, when Thomas Sydenham famously remarked that "The arrival of a good clown exercise a more beneficial influence upon the health of a town that 20 asses laden with drugs."
Laughter is an effective antidote to stress, promotes a sense of wellbeing, strengthens relationships and may have beneficial affects on immunity and pain tolerance. Lack of a sense of humor may increase vulnerability to depression, and loss of the ability to appreciate humor may contribute to the downward spiral of mood in patients with depression.
Humor therapy, in which the therapist tells funny stories or anecdotes to a small group of patients, has been advocated as an additional therapeutic tool in depression. An underpowered pilot study founded that inpatients receiving humor therapy in addition to standard care showed greater improvements in quality of life scores than patients receiving standard therapy, but the results were not significant.
The study recruited 27 inpatients with a diagnosis of major depression and 27 healthy controls, who were asked to complete a computerized task of humor processing.
Participants had to match joke stems with the correct punchline. Cognitive skills thought to be important in understanding humor, such as the ability to infer the beliefs and intentions of others were also addressed.
Patients with depression were significantly more likely to choose the wrong punchline (11.4% and 2.8% incorrect answers respectively, P=<0.05). When they did choose the correct answer, they were less likely to be amused by it (54% compared with 68.8%, P=<0.05)
This impaired humor processing in patients with depression correlated with impaired performance in tests of mentalising and relevant executive cognitive functions. Major depression is associated with dysfunction of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, which is thought to play an important role in both mentalising and humor appreciation.
The therapeutic value of humor has been recognized since the 17th century, when Thomas Sydenham famously remarked that "The arrival of a good clown exercise a more beneficial influence upon the health of a town that 20 asses laden with drugs."
Laughter is an effective antidote to stress, promotes a sense of wellbeing, strengthens relationships and may have beneficial affects on immunity and pain tolerance. Lack of a sense of humor may increase vulnerability to depression, and loss of the ability to appreciate humor may contribute to the downward spiral of mood in patients with depression.
Humor therapy, in which the therapist tells funny stories or anecdotes to a small group of patients, has been advocated as an additional therapeutic tool in depression. An underpowered pilot study founded that inpatients receiving humor therapy in addition to standard care showed greater improvements in quality of life scores than patients receiving standard therapy, but the results were not significant.
