SCIENTISTS in Israel have cracked the complicated cognitive code that determines whether individuals are able to understand sarcasm.

Yeah, right.

No, really. The findings, published today by the American Psychological Association, could provide vital clues to the best way of helping people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome, as well as those with some forms of brain damage, to improve their communication skills.

Simone Shamay-Tsoory, the psychologist who led the research, said that the study aimed to determine how people distinguish between a speaker’s words and a speaker’s intention. “Only then can you really understand sarcasm,” she said. Dr Shamay-Tsoory and her colleagues at the Rambam Medical Centre in Haifa and the University of Haifa studied the reaction of brain-damaged and healthy people to a series of stories recorded by actors.

Some were sarcastic, such as this: Joe came to work and, instead of beginning to work, he sat down to rest. His boss noticed his behaviour and said: “Joe, don’t work too hard.”

Others were neutral, such as this: Joe came to work and immediately began to work. His boss noticed his behaviour and said: “Joe, don’t work too hard.”

The study included 25 participants with prefrontal-lobe damage, 16 with posterior-lobe damage and 17 healthy subjects. After hearing the stories, the subjects were questioned to ascertain whether they could comprehend the words in the story as well as the speaker’s true meaning. The researchers found that participants with prefrontal-lobe damage were significantly less able to understand sarcasm than those in the two other groups. Within the prefrontal group, people with damage in the right ventro-medial area, on top of the orbits of the eyes, had the most problems comprehending sarcasm. Those with the greatest damage to this area had the most difficulty.

“This study contributes towards our understanding of the relation between language and social cognition,” Dr Shamay-Tsoory said. She added that the findings could provide vital assistance in the rehabilitation of some patients. However, she noted that the research threw little light on the popular national stereotypes of the English as highly sarcastic and the Americans as totally lacking in irony.

“I’m not sure this study implies that people who don’t get sarcasm have brain damage,” she said, tactfully. “Maybe they just have problems understanding other people’s state of mind. It could be down to cultural differences.”

As if.

A FINE LINE

‘I didn’t attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it’
Mark Twain

SARCASM: the use of bitter or wounding, especially ironic, remarks

IRONY: an expression of meaning, often humorous or sarcastic, by the use of language of a different or opposite tendency

Source: The Concise Oxford Dictionary

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