The impact of inhibitory control and working memory capacity on verbal-humor processing: an ERP investigation

Abstract Verbal-humor processing is a sophisticated cognitive-emotional task. While domain-general executive functions like inhibitory control (IC) and working memory capacity (WMC) are known to influence language comprehension, their specific, stage-dependent contributions to the neural mechanisms underlying humor processing remain unclear. This study employed event-related potentials (ERPs) to investigate the distinct and interactive roles of WMC and IC across the three stages of verbal-humor processing: incongruity detection, incongruity resolution, and mirth. Participants completed a sentence judgment task involving humorous, positive non-humorous, and neutral sentences while their brain activity was recorded using EEG. ERP components associated with incongruity detection (N400), incongruity resolution (LLAN), and mirth (LPP) were analyzed. The results revealed stage-specific modulatory roles of IC and WMC. IC significantly modulated ERP components linked to the cognitive stages of humor processing, namely the N400 (incongruity detection) and the LLAN (incongruity resolution). In contrast, WMC selectively modulated the LPP component, which is associated with the emotional and elaborative experience of mirth. These findings suggest that inhibitory control plays an important role in the initial cognitive stages of humor processing, whereas working memory capacity contributes to the subsequent emotional experience of humor.