I could have told you this, and saved you the cost of the study.

Stanford University researchers have determined humor is processed differently in the brains of men and women, and women get more enjoyment from it.

In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, psychiatrist Dr. Allan Reiss, who led the study, explained magnetic resonance imaging was used to detect blood rushing into active areas of the brain. The heads of each of the 20 volunteers were carefully restrained so as not to jiggle and blur the image if the person laughed, the San Jose (Calif.) Mercury News reported.

The study found that when looking at funny cartoons, women activated the language parts of their brains more than men did. Their reward centers also lit up more intensely, possibly because they didn`t expect the cartoons to be as funny as the men did, and so felt more intense pleasure when they got the punch line.

Reiss said if women react more intensely to funny things, 'could that also imply that they process negative stimuli, stressful stimuli, in a different way? It`s definitely worth following up.'

Ask any guy who has been married for more than two or three weeks if men and women view humor (or anything else) differently. We learn that one the hard way, as jokes fall flat and the wives attempt to get us to watch reruns of Britcoms on PBS.

But then again, why should we be surprised that academic scientists spend wads of cash studying the obvious?

Posted by: Greg at 01:40 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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