London, May 23: Scientists in Israel have cracked the complicated cognitive code that determines whether individuals are able to understand sarcasm. Yes, right.

No, really. The findings, published today by the American Psychological Association, could provide vital clues to the best way of helping people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome, as well as those with some forms of brain damage, to improve their communication skills.

Simone Shamay-Tsoory, the psychologist who led the research, said the study aimed to determine how people distinguish between a speaker’s words and a speaker’s intention. “Only then can you really understand sarcasm,” she said.

Dr Shamay-Tsoory and her colleagues at the Rambam Medical Centre in Haifa and the University of Haifa studied the reaction of brain-damaged and healthy people to a series of stories recorded by actors.

The study included 25 participants with prefrontal-lobe damage, 16 with posterior-lobe damage and 17 healthy subjects.

Dr Shamay-Tsoory said the findings could provide vital assistance in the rehabilitation of some patients. However, she noted that the research threw little light on the popular national stereotypes of the English as highly sarcastic and the Americans as totally lacking in irony.

“I’m not sure this study implies that people who don’t get sarcasm have brain damage,” she said, tactfully. “Maybe they just have problems understanding other people’s state of mind.”