Explain SMBC — the wiki for Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

The Joke

A father is playing the classic "got your nose" game with a young child. He says "Got yer nose!" and the child cries "Oh no!" He then says "Got yer eyes!" and the child again cries "Oh no!" Then he says "Got yer cerebellum!" The child does not react with distress this time. The father says "I don't find this game funny," while a woman (presumably the mother) observes: "Looks like someone got her limbic system!"

The Humor

The joke escalates the innocent children's game of "got your nose" into increasingly absurd territory by having the father pretend to steal body parts the child could not possibly be aware of. When he gets to "cerebellum" (the part of the brain that controls motor coordination and some cognitive functions), the child stops reacting emotionally. The mother's punchline -- "Looks like someone got her limbic system!" -- explains the child's sudden emotional flatness: the limbic system is the part of the brain responsible for emotional responses. If someone "got" (removed) it, the child would indeed stop having emotional reactions. The joke works on the level of neuroscience humor, where each stolen brain part has increasingly specific and darkly funny consequences.

References

The cerebellum is a region of the brain primarily involved in motor control, balance, and coordination. The limbic system is a set of brain structures (including the amygdala, hippocampus, and others) that plays a central role in emotional processing, memory, and behavioral responses.