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Semin Speech Lang 2003; 24(2): 107-120
DOI: 10.1055/s-2003-38902
Copyright © 2003 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc., 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA. Tel.: +1(212) 584-4662

Affective Language and Humor Appreciation after Right Hemisphere Brain Damage

Margaret Lehman Blake
  • Department of Communication Disorders, University of Houston, Houston, Texas
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Publication History

Publication Date:
23 April 2003 (online)

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ABSTRACT

Many adults with right hemisphere brain damage exhibit difficulties in the comprehension and expression of emotional language and humor. Affective comprehension deficits range in severity and can be modulated by task and response demands as well as by the strength of emotional content. Expressive emotional language deficits, as characterized by reduced emotional intensity, are more pervasive than comprehension deficits. Deficits in humor appreciation generally affect the ability to integrate an incongruous element (e.g., a punch line) with the preceding context. Several co-occurring disorders (e.g., depression, cognitive and visuoperceptual deficits, and reduced auditory comprehension) may exacerbate problems with affective language and humor. Although some formal measures evaluate humor appreciation, none specifically addresses emotional language. While no hard data exist regarding efficacy of treatment for deficits in affective language or humor processing, several suggestions for such treatment are provided.

KEYWORDS

Right brain damage - emotion - humor

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