Every year on April first, I play a small prank on my husband. The jokes are not incredibly funny but we (well, I) manage to get a chuckle. Since I have a hard time keeping a straight face, I usually set up an ambush -think, bath towel laced with glitter dust.
What makes silly jokes funny?
One year when I was a grad student frantically pulling together a journal club presentation, I came across reference to a brain region called the amygdala. In consult with a professor, I asked about the brain area. He was either unaware or had a good sense of humor; his response was “I don't know, a dance?”
Data from functional magnetic resonance imaging suggests that the amygdala (particularly the structure on the left side of the brain) is involved with the emotions relating to amusement. But the amygdalae are funny things linked to critical functions including fear conditioning and maternal behaviors.
While the general role of the amygdala in associating memories with emotional events explains the smile I get when seeing glitter remnants in the caulking, I'm sure that the science of humor is more convoluted than activity in one nut sized region.
Bartolo et al. 2006
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