Posted on: Monday, October 6, 2003

EDITORIAL
Humor, like all else, changes with age

Now, here's something to chew on:

" . . . while cognitive abilities thought to be mediated by dorsolateral frontal regions (of the brain) related to humor may deteriorate with aging, affective processing related to orbital and medial prefrontal regions may remain intact."

Don't bother going over that again. We'll explain: It's commentary from a Canadian study that concluded folks have a harder time getting a joke as they get older.

That's the bad news. The good news is that older folks enjoy a good joke just as much as young people — if and when they get it.

The study was reported in the September issue of the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.

The authors are entirely serious in their work, which involves complicated studies on how the brain works.

But you don't have to be so deadpan. Go ahead and have a laugh. It's good for you.