Humour lends insight into vegetative state - Adrian Owen

How the human brain processes jokes may help researchers determine if a person in a vegetative state can experience positive emotions -- a breakthrough that could help friends, relatives and doctors better understand a patient's mental state of mind. A team of researchers from Canada and the United Kingdom, led by Adrian Owen at The University of Western Ontario's internationally renowned Centre for Brain and Mind, used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology to scan the brains of 12 healthy volunteers and compare their reactions to jokes with their reactions to standard, non-joking dialogue.