This chapter discusses a neuroscientist's experiment studying the brain activity of comedians as they come up with jokes. The neuroscientist scanned the brains of both professional and amateur comedians, as well as non-comedians, while they developed funny captions for cartoons. The chapter explores the brain regions involved and the implications for comedians' spontaneous creativity.
Why do we laugh, and what makes something funny? A psychologist, a neuroscientist and satirist Mark Humphries weigh in on humour and the brain.