Table 1. Prediction of use of types of humour by brain responses to other people’s laughter and crying (changes of prefrontal-posterior EEG coherences, Δcoh).
| Δcoh (laughter) | Δcoh (crying) | Age | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| r (p) | sr (p) | r (p) | sr (p) | r (p) | sr (p) | |
| Cynicism* | −0.05 (0.712) | −0.07 (0.600) | −0.33 (0.018) | −0.31 (0.024) | −0.23 (0.104) | −0.19 (0.156) |
| Sarcasm* | 0.05 (0.719) | 0.04 (0.774) | −0.31 (0.027) | −0.27 (0.044) | −0.31 (0.027) | −0.28 (0.040) |
| Irony* | −0.10 (0.483) | −0.11 (0.384) | −0.32 (0.021) | −0.30 (0.027) | −0.32 (0.020) | −0.29 (0.032) |
| Satire | −0.20 (0.157) | −0.22 (0.113) | −0.23 (0.098) | −0.26 (0.067) | 0.06 (0.672) | 0.09 (0.499) |
| Wit* | −0.08 (0.561) | −0.10 (0.445) | −0.34 (0.014) | −0.33 (0.018) | −0.20 (0.152) | −0.16 (0.226) |
| Fun | 0.04 (0.781) | 0.03 (0.839) | −0.19 (0.171) | −0.18 (0.212) | −0.12 (0.393) | −0.10 (0.472) |
| Nonsense* | 0.08 (0.575) | 0.09 (0.539) | −0.18 (0.216) | −0.13 (0.338) | −0.41 (0.003) | −0.39 (0.004) |
| Benevol. humour* | −0.30 (0.029) | −0.31 (0.021) | −0.21 (0.136) | −0.21 (0.110) | −0.19 (0.186) | −0.15 (0.247) |
Note: *Statistically significant regression models (F-test). r = zero-order correlation, sr = semipartial correlation, p = p-value (two-tailed). Coherence changes in the right hemisphere (beta frequency range) relative to neutral stimulation. Negative scores of Δcoh denote a relative decrease of prefrontal-posterior coherence (more opened perceptual gate), positive scores denote an increase (gate more closed). Significant zero-order and semi-partial correlations are highlighted in bold font (α = 0.05). N = 52.