Maybe the odd punchline alludes us but the majority of us see this type of research as a big joke and that the researchers might think about getting a real job.
Joke's on who? Study suggests humour fades with age
Last Updated: Wednesday, July 11, 2007 | 11:42 AM ET
The Associated Press
It's no laughing matter: a new study suggests older adults have a harder time getting jokes as they age.
'Older adults, because they may have deficits in some of those cognitive areas, may have a harder time understanding what a joke is about.'—Researcher Brian Carpenter
The research indicates because older adults may have greater difficulty with cognitive flexibility, abstract reasoning and short-term memory, they also have greater difficulty with tests of humour comprehension.
Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis tested about 40 healthy adults over age 65 and 40 undergraduate students with exercises in which they had to complete jokes and stories.
Participants also had to choose the correct punchline for verbal jokes and select the funny ending to series of cartoon panels.
Findings were published earlier in June in the Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society.
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