Dementia causes people to miss sarcasm cues. "They would think 'The Colbert Report' is real.”

[TalkingDog]

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42644787/ns/today-today_health/?ns=health-aging

Unfortunately, losing the ability to detect the subtle social clues that help you know when you’re being doused with sarcasm or even dissed with a big fat lie may actually be an early warning sign of dementia, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco.

The scientists, who reported their findings at a recent meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, have discovered that a certain type of neurodegenerative disease may chip away at the ability to understand the social, physical and verbal cues that help people recognize indirect language, such as sarcasm, and even deceit.

“These are the patients who fall for all the online scams, and lose all their money, because they just don’t get the lie,” said lead author Katherine Rankin, a neuropsychologist in the UCSF Memory and Aging Center, who led the new study. “They don’t understand sarcasm. They would think 'The Colbert Report' is real.”



Hmmm....this might explain a lot. A whoooole lot.

[RC]

1. That 28% seems to have a lot of trouble with the reality of the situation.

[End Of The Road]

2. So what's the excuse for those who think FOX is real?? nt

[Broderick]

3. I see this with a family member

Quite interesting to read that it is a verifiable cue to dementia which I suspected was setting in.

[RandomThoughts]

4. Or they think you are being sarcastic when you are being truthful

Why should I tell you, You wouldn't believe me anyways.

[snagglepuss]

5. This does explain a lot of mystifying behavior. I wonder if it also explains

why religious fundies of all stripes can only read holy texts literally?

[pipi_k]

6. This is exactly why...

I get so disgusted with people who come here to brag about the verbal beating they gave somebody over some issue or another.

One of my sisters has Aspergers. To her, everything is literal. She does not understand sarcasm. She does not understand anything that's not literal. And because of her tendency to focus intently on only things that interest her, she doesn't know much about a whole lot of other subjects.

IMO, ranting on people with cognitive disorders is just like kicking a crippled person.

and nobody can know in the space of a few minutes whether someone else has some sort of cognitive disorder. Certainly not after listening to someone spout off unwanted opinions in a doctors office or fast food place or supermarket or wherever.

People with different opinions are called "assholes". Nice. :eyes:

[philly_bob]

7. Nicely said, p_k. Deserves to be seen by more people... (n/t)