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Interbrains cooperation: Hyperscanning and self-perception in joint actions
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the neural bases of cooperative behaviors and social self-perception underlying the execution of joint actions by using a hyperscanning brain paradigm with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We firstly found that an artificial positive feedback on the cognitive performance was able to affect the self-perception of social position and hierarchy (higher social ranking) for the dyad, as well as the cognitive performance (decreased error rate, ER, and response times, RTs). In addition, the shared cognitive strategy was concurrently improved within the dyad after this social reinforcing. Secondly, fNIRS measures revealed an increased brain activity in the postfeedback condition for the dyad. Moreover, an interbrain similarity was found for the dyads during the task, with higher coherent prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity for the interagents in the postfeedback condition. Finally, a significant prefrontal brain lateralization effect was revealed, with the left hemisphere being more engaged during the postfeedback condition. To summarize, the self-perception, the cognitive performance, and the shared brain activity were all reinforced by the social feedback within the dyad.
... Sharing attention toward a common stimulus can result in a shared awareness of events (Czeszumski et al., 2020), which in turn informs mother and child of each other's responses (Nguyen et al., 2020). Previous fNIRS studies show that compared to no-feedback conditions, providing positive or negative feedback on tasks induces higher synchrony in stranger dyads (Balconi & Vanutelli, 2017;Lu et al., 2019). In parent-child dyads, the role of external feedback is not considered enough, while it is important to a child's early development and can be influenced by parental presence (Kawamoto & Hiraki, 2019). ...
... This observation lends support to the notion that feedback itself, regardless of its valence, has an effect on mother-child synchrony, albeit it is a diminishing effect relative to task-solving. This is inconsistent with previous work that found providing feedback leads to higher synchrony than no feedback intervals (Balconi & Vanutelli, 2017;Lu et al., 2019). ...
... Multiple explanations can be provided for this contrasting result; first, these previous studies employed fNIRS (Balconi & Vanutelli, 2017;Lu et al., 2019), which measures brain activity indirectly through hemodynamic activity, while EEG measures brain activity directly through electrophysiological activity. The coupling of these two types of activity might differ during feedback processing. ...
Parent and child have been shown to synchronize their behaviors and physiology during social interactions. This synchrony is an important marker of their relationship quality and subsequently the child’s social and emotional development. Therefore, understanding the factors that influence parent–child synchrony is an important undertaking. Using EEG hyperscanning, this study investigated brain-to-brain synchrony in mother-child dyads when they took turns performing a visual search task and received positive or negative feedback. In addition to the effect of feedback valence, we studied how their assigned role, i.e., observing or performing the task, influenced synchrony. Results revealed that mother-child synchrony was higher during positive feedback relative to negative feedback in delta and gamma frequency bands. Furthermore, a main effect was found for role in the alpha band with higher synchrony when a child observed their mother performing the task compared to when the mother observed their child. These findings reveal that a positive social context could lead a mother and child to synchronize more on a neural level, which could subsequently improve the quality of their relationship. This study provides insight into mechanisms that underlie mother-child brain-to-brain synchrony, and establishes a framework by which the impact of emotion and task demand on a dyad’s synchrony can be investigated
... Functional connectivity, which provides information on the synchronic and diachronic features underpinning people's interaction, is defined as the correlation between two temporal sequencies of activity related signals [25][26][27]. Indeed, a phenomenon of brain to brain coupling takes place during joint actions, as shown by various studies, which have noticed a correlation between cerebral activation in two people during joint movements, emotions, or feelings [26,28,29]. In particular, a number of hyperscanning experiments have found that participants in the exchange engage in implicit perceptual, cognitive, and motor linking mechanisms when performing joint actions. ...
... Using "two-person neuroscience", which simultaneously records the brain activity of two individuals, it is possible to learn more about the brain connectivity mechanisms of dyads during conditions implying social and emotional interactions [27,28]. This mechanism of similar activation cannot be recorded using conventional approaches used on an individual's single brain [32]. ...
... To increase specificity, only artifact-free epochs were considered. EEG power spectra for artifact-free segments were finally computed via Fast Fourier Transform, averaged to calculate condition-specific power spectra, and the following frequency bands were then extracted: Delta (0.5-3.5 Hz), Theta (4-7.5 Hz), Alpha (8-12.5 Hz), and Beta (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30). EEG data reduction was performed using BrainVision Analyzer 2.0 (Brain Products GmbH, Munich, Germany). ...
This research explored the influence of interoception and social frame on the coherence of inter-brain electrophysiological (EEG) and hemodynamic (collected by functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy, fNIRS) functional connectivity during a motor synchronization task. Fourteen dyads executed a motor synchronization task with the presence and absence of interoceptive focus. Moreover, the motor task was socially or not-socially framed by enhancing the shared intentionality. During the experiment, delta, theta, alpha, and beta frequency bands, and oxygenated and de-oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb and HHb) were collected through an EEG-fNIRS hyperscanning paradigm. Inter-brain coherence indices were computed for the two neurophysiological signals and then they were correlated to explore the reciprocal coherence of the functional connectivity EEG-fNIRS in the dyads. Findings showed significant higher correlational values between delta and O2Hb, theta and O2Hb, and alpha and O2Hb for the left hemisphere in the focus compared to the no focus condition and to the right hemisphere (both during focus and no focus condition). Additionally, greater correlational values between delta and O2Hb, and theta and O2Hb were observed in the left hemisphere for the focus condition when the task was socially compared to non-socially framed. This study showed that the focus on the breath and shared intentionality activate coherently the same left frontal areas in dyads performing a joint motor task.
... This research used neural coherence indices to explore the hemodynamic correlates of betweenbrain interconnectivity by using a two-person neuroscience paradigm. In former fNIRS hyperscanning experiments, coherence indices were used to examine the synchronization of brain rhythms during cooperative and competitive joint activities [22,26,41,42], social exchanges [43], and gesture observation and reproduction [44]. ...
... Each channel's acquired raw O2Hb and HHb data were digitally band-pass filtered at 0.01-0.3 Hz [41,43]. ...
... First, it was chosen to report the main significance results in graphs to describe the trend of synchronization within the dyads. In former fNIRS hyperscanning experiments, coherence indices were used to examine the synchronization of the hemodynamic signal during cooperative and competitive joint activities [22,26,41,42], social exchanges [43], and gesture observation and reproduction [44]. At the methodological level, the results of the present study proved that inter-subject hemodynamic coherence indices can be exploited as a reliable indicator of dyads' PFC tuning in this context, specifically when there is a focus on breathing and the social frame is manipulated. ...
Grossberg’s classification of adaptive resonance mechanisms includes the cognitive-emotional resonances that support conscious feelings and recognition of them. In this regard, a relevant question concerns the processing of signals deriving from the internal body and their contribution to interpersonal synchronization. This study aims to assess hemodynamic inter-subject coherence in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) through functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscan recording during dyadic synchronization tasks proposed with or without a social frame and performed in two distinct interoceptive conditions: focus and no focus on the breathing condition. Individuals’ hemodynamic data (oxygenated and de-oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb and HHb, respectively)) were recorded through fNIRS hyperscanning, and coherence analysis was performed. The findings showed a significantly higher O2Hb coherence in the left PFC when the dyads performed the synchronization tasks with a social frame compared with no social frame in the focus condition. Overall, the evidence suggests that the interoceptive focus and the presence of a social frame favor the manifestation of a left PFC interpersonal tuning during synchronization tasks.
... Specifically, hyperscanning is a recent research paradigm consisting of the simultaneous recording of the brain activity of two individuals during the performance of a joint task (Balconi & Fronda, 2020a, 2020b, 2021Balconi & Vanutelli, 2017;Montague et al., 2002), allowing to grasp the social interaction dynamics (Balconi & Fronda, 2020a, 2020b, 2021Koike, Tanabe, & Sadato, 2015;Konvalinka & Roepstorff, 2012). ...
... Moreover, hyperscanning allows for the recording of the intercerebral coupling and tuning mechanisms that occur between individuals involved in the exchange (Balconi & Fronda, 2020a, 2020bBalconi & Vanutelli, 2017;Liu, Saito, & Oi, 2015;Ruby & Decety, 2004). ...
... On the other hand, considering inter-brain activity, we expected to observe an increase in inter-brain connectivity in both individuals involved in the exchange (encoder and decoder) in specific brain areas in relation to the meaning of gestures' type (affective, social and information) and valence (positive or negative). Indeed, as demonstrated by different studies, during joint interactions, an increase in brain and behavioral synchronization occurs between interacting individuals (Balconi & Fronda, 2020a, 2020b, 2021Balconi et al., 2020;Balconi & Vanutelli, 2017;Lindenberger et al., 2009;Vanutelli et al., 2016). Finally, considering culture of belonging (Italian or French), we expected to observe an increase in inter-brain connectivity of individuals' of the same culture according to the reproduction of specific types of gestures. ...
In each culture, non-verbal communication is characterized by the use of conventional gestures. The present study aimed to investigate the neural correlates underlying a non-verbal interaction between encoder and decoder characterized by the use of different gestures in Italian and French cultures. Specifically, interagents’ cortical activity was recorded with the use of electroencephalography (EEG) in hyperscanning. From results, different cortical modulation and inter-brain connectivity emerged regarding the types and valence of gestures, the interagents’ role and the culture of belonging. The present research has shown cultural differences concerning gestures’ type and valence, highlighting brain synchronization in same culture’s individuals.
... Applications in motor synchronization were relatively common and generally had participants complete synchronous physical motions as an experimental task in the lab e.g., [139]. These tasks included a cooperative button press task [140] where participants interact either side-by-side e.g., [141] or face-to-face e.g., [142], computer games [51,[141][142][143], joint-tapping tasks [32,40,144], and synchronization tasks [145][146][147]. One study utilized a finger-tapping task to record between-brain hemodynamics [40]. ...
... Applications in motor synchronization were relatively common and generally had participants complete synchronous physical motions as an experimental task in the lab e.g., [139]. These tasks included a cooperative button press task [140] where participants interact either side-by-side e.g., [141] or face-to-face e.g., [142], computer games [51,[141][142][143], joint-tapping tasks [32,40,144], and synchronization tasks [145][146][147]. One study utilized a finger-tapping task to record between-brain hemodynamics [40]. ...
... Orientation. Applications in motor synchronization adopted various orientation methods e.g., [32,40,51,[139][140][141][142][143][144][145][146][147]. For example, Six studies had participants oriented side-by-side [51,139,[141][142][143]146], Two studies had participants oriented back-to-back [32,144], and four of the studies had participants interact face-to-face [40,140,145,147]. ...
The aim of this study was to conduct a comprehensive review on hyperscanning research (measuring brain activity simultaneously from more than two people interacting) using an explicit systematic method, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). Data were searched from IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Engineering Village, Web of Science and Scopus databases. Inclusion criteria were journal articles written in English from 2000 to 19 June 2019. A total of 126 empirical studies were screened out to address three specific questions regarding the neuroimaging method, the application domain, and the experiment paradigm. Results showed that the most used neuroimaging method with hyperscanning was magnetoencephalography/electroencephalography (MEG/EEG; 47%), and the least used neuroimaging method was hyper-transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) (1%). Applications in cognition accounted for almost half the studies (48%), while educational applications accounted for less than 5% of the studies. Applications in decision-making tasks were the second most common (26%), shortly followed by applications in motor synchronization (23%). The findings from this systematic review that were based on documented, transparent and reproducible searches should help build cumulative knowledge and guide future research regarding inter-brain neural synchrony during social interactions, that is, hyperscanning research.
... Other studies have found increased IBC, particularly in prefrontal regions, to be positively associated with prosocial behavior during collaborative activities such as games (Liu et al. 2016;Pan et al. 2017;Miller et al. 2019), group creative brainstorming (Xue et al. 2018;Lu et al. 2019b), and psychological counseling (Zhang et al. 2018). Functional NIRS hyperscanning research by Balconi and Fronda (2020) found that gift exchange (as a sign of appreciation) increases IBC in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), a region associated with social interaction processes, such as emotional attunement (Balconi et al. 2017), theory of mind, and suppression of selfish behaviors (Kalbe et al. 2010;Balconi and Vanutelli 2017). Recently, we demonstrated differences in dyadic IBC between in-person and virtual (Zoom ® ) interactions (Balters et al. 2023). ...
... Other studies have found increased IBC, particularly in prefrontal regions, to be positively associated with prosocial behavior during collaborative activities such as games (Liu et al. 2016;Pan et al. 2017;Miller et al. 2019), group creative brainstorming (Xue et al. 2018;Lu et al. 2019b), and psychological counseling (Zhang et al. 2018). Functional NIRS hyperscanning research by Balconi and Fronda (2020) found that gift exchange (as a sign of appreciation) increases IBC in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), a region associated with social interaction processes, such as emotional attunement (Balconi et al. 2017), theory of mind, and suppression of selfish behaviors (Kalbe et al. 2010;Balconi and Vanutelli 2017). Recently, we demonstrated differences in dyadic IBC between in-person and virtual (Zoom ® ) interactions (Balters et al. 2023). ...
Expressing appreciation is essential for establishing interpersonal closeness, but virtual interactions are increasingly common and create social distance. Little is known about the neural and inter-brain correlates of expressing appreciation and the potential effects of virtual videoconferencing on this kind of interaction. Here, we assess inter-brain coherence with functional near-infrared spectroscopy while dyads expressed appreciation to one another. We scanned 36 dyads (72 participants) who interacted in either an in-person or virtual (Zoom®) condition. Participants reported on their subjective experience of interpersonal closeness. As predicted, expressing appreciation increased interpersonal closeness between dyad partners. Relative to 3 other cooperation tasks (i.e. problem-solving task, creative-innovation task, socio-emotional task), we observed increased inter-brain coherence in socio-cognitive areas of the cortex (anterior frontopolar area, inferior frontal gyrus, premotor cortex, middle temporal gyrus, supramarginal gyrus, and visual association cortex) during the appreciation task. Increased inter-brain coherence in socio-cognitive areas during the appreciation task was associated with increased interpersonal closeness. These findings support the perspective that expressing appreciation, both in-person and virtually, increases subjective and neural metrics of interpersonal closeness.
... The data highlights a discernible social impact on reaction times. Competing participants responded quicker than those acting solo, a finding that seemingly diverges from previous studies (50)(51)(52)(53). Those earlier works concentrated on how social intent, entwined with anticipated negative outcomes in competitive scenarios, affected action planning. ...
Background: In sports and physical education, success requires a range of competencies. Structuring activities within a cooperative or competitive social context can enhance motivation and performance.
Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the influence of different social contexts, specifically competition and cooperation, on motor, cognitive, and affective behaviors among physical education students.
Methods: We focused on two predominant social contexts: cooperation and competition. For this purpose, seventy participants (Age: 21.96±1.92 years, Height: 1.69±0.09m, Weight: 64.67±10.37kg, 28 males) voluntarily participated in the present study. Each was paired and given instructions to either work collaboratively with their partner or compete against them. For motion analysis, we utilized Adobe Premier software; its suitability for this study was determined by its capability to capture detailed motion kinematics. Affective states were gauged through a specialized deep-learning model designed for facial expression recognition. Further details about the model's training and specificity are provided within the main manuscript.
Results: Participants exhibited shorter movement durations in cooperative (679±320 ms; p<0.001) and competitive contexts (707±356 ms; p<0.001) compared to individual scenarios. Similarly, the accuracy was enhanced in cooperative and competitive conditions. Reaction time was notably quicker in the competition setting (186 ±78 ms) compared to individual contexts, especially with positive (180±150 ms) and negative stimuli. Emotional correspondence was significantly higher in cooperative and competitive settings, particularly in response to positive stimuli. However, emotional stability did not significantly differ across social contexts.
Conclusion: Drawing upon insights from neuroimaging, developmental, and social psychology, our results highlight the significant influence of social contexts, especially cooperation and competition, on motor function, responsiveness, and emotional well-being during dart-shooting tasks. In practical terms, educators and trainers in physical education can use these findings to optimize student and athlete performance. By designing activities that emphasize cooperative interactions, we can not only enhance motor skills but also improve emotional states. Furthermore, the implications of this study extend beyond sports. Other learning or professional environments could benefit from a thoughtful balance between cooperative and competitive elements, potentially transforming training methodologies and team dynamics across various fields.
... Positive feedback in social interactions also contributes to people's self-enhancement (Hepper et al., 2011). Although there are relatively few studies examining positive feedback-induced inter-brain synchrony, researchers have actually found that experimentally induced positive external feedback was able to induce a corresponding increased prefrontal cortex (PFC) responsiveness in participant dyads, even accompanied by better cognitive performance (Balconi & Vanutelli, 2017). We can then speculate that the positive feedback derived from successful cooperation may elicit higher frontal lobe activation in individuals and partners, triggering positive empathy and thus higher inter-brain synchronization. ...
Mindfulness appears to improve empathy and understanding in relationships, which are necessary for successful cooperation. However, the impact of mindfulness on cooperation has not been fully studied. This study used hyperscanning technique to examine the effect of mindfulness on the inter-brain synchrony of interacting individuals during the cooperative tasks. Forty-one dyads were randomly assigned to a mindfulness group or a non-mindfulness group. Dyads of the mindfulness group performed a short mindfulness exercise following a 15-minute mindfulness audio guidance. Dyads of the non-mindfulness group were instructed to rest quietly with their eyes closed. Then, simultaneously and continuously EEG was recorded from all dyads when they completed a computer-based cooperative game task. Reaction times (RTs) and success rates were used to indicate the behavioral performance, and phase locking value (PLV) was used to indicate the inter-brain synchrony. The results showed that (1) Greater theta inter-brain synchrony during the cooperative computer game tasks was observed in the mindfulness group than in the non-mindfulness group; (2) Greater theta inter-brain synchrony was observed in the successful cooperation conditions as compared to those in the failure cooperation conditions; (3) Greater theta inter-brain synchrony was observed at the frontal region as compared to those at the parietal-occipital region in the successful cooperation condition. The results expand the neural basis of the effects of mindfulness on cooperation feedback processing.
... Some limitations should be taken into consideration when discussing these results. Indeed, there is a need for a more accurate analysis of this phenomenon, including a more exhaustive exploration of the cortical localization of brain oscillations by using for instance neuroimaging tools, such as the fNIRS, which proved to be a reliable technique to collect data during interactive motor dynamics in several previous studies (Angioletti et al., 2019;Balconi & Vanutelli, 2017a;Balconi & Molteni, 2016;Balconi & Vanutelli, 2017b). ...
The effect of explicit interoception manipulation on electrophysiological (EEG) patterns concurrent with an interpersonal motor synchronization task with a social purpose was investigated in this study. Thirty healthy individuals executed a task involving behavioral motor synchronization with a social framing in both focus (conceived as the focus on the breath for a specific time interval) and no focus conditions. During the task, a 15 active electrodes electroencephalogram was used to record the following frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, and beta band) from the frontal, temporo-central, and parieto-occipital regions of interest (ROIs). According to the results, for all the frequency bands significant higher mean values were found in the focus compared to no focus condition in the parieto-occipital ROI. On the whole, the current work conveys that when a motor synchronization task is executed and the person concurrently pays attention to his/her body correlates, EEG brain activity is empowered and boosted in posterior areas at the basis of attention to visceral signals, but also interpersonal action coordination. This evidence could have potentially interesting implications because it suggests the importance of modern breath-work during all conditions that require a social motor joint task, such as physiotherapy exercises or synchronized sports.
... Intra-brain connectivity refers to the neural synchronization between different cortexes within a participant and can be considered as a marker for a subject's functional specialization [22]. The other indicator is inter-brain connectivity [23], which refers to the functional connectivity between individuals' brain regions responsible for interpersonal coupling during social interactions [24,25]. Interestingly, these metrics are both good predictors of collective performance [26]. ...
We propose a hyperscanning research design, where electroencephalographic (EEG) data were collected on an instructor and teams of learners. We compared neurophysiological measures within the frequency domain (delta, theta, alpha, and beta EEG bands) in the two conditions: face-to-face and remote settings. Data collection was carried out using wearable EEG systems. Conversational analysis was previously applied to detect comparable EEG time blocks and semantic topics. The digitalization of training can be considered a challenge but also a chance for organizations. However, if not carefully addressed, it might constitute a criticality. Limited research explored how remote, as opposed to face-to-face, training affects cognitive, (such as memory and attention), affective, and social processes in workgroups. Data showed an alpha desynchronization and, conversely, a theta and beta synchronization for the face-to-face condition. Moreover, trainees showed different patterns for beta power depending on the setting condition, with significantly increased power spectral density (PSD) in the face-to-face condition. These results highlight the relevance of neurophysiological measures in testing the e-learning process, in relation to the emotional engagement, memory encoding, and attentional processing.
... Johnson & Johnson proved that MNS and MS can facilitate team innovation [17]. Of these two systems, the prefrontal, temporal and motor cortex have been shown to be associated with cooperation, face-to-face communication, and creativity [3,16,39]. Since the study by Gonen-Yaacovi et al. reported left-side activation associated with creativity [11], in this study, our brain regions of interest are the prefrontal, temporal, and motor cortex of the left brain. ...
The epidemic has led to the transfer of many design classes from of-fline to online. 30 design students were recruited, and we compared their performance on collaborative innovation tasks in both online and offline modes. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to collect signals from the subjects' prefrontal cortex (PFC), temporal-parietal cortex (TPJ), and premotor cortex (PMC). The results showed that the design cognitive mode of the subjects in online idea generation phase was different from that of the offline corresponding phase, and more brain areas were activated during the offline collaboration process. The overall innovation performance of the subjects in the offline collaborative innovation task was better than that of the online. And the relationship between the subjects' cerebral cortical activation and their collaborative innovation performance was further discussed. CCS CONCEPTS • Human-centered computing → Collaborative and social computing ; Empirical studies in collaborative and social computing.
... Notwithstanding the left hemisphere's dominance in language processing and face-toface verbal communication [37], it is possible that the social nature of the task (implying a synchronization process) and the explicit focus on interoceptive correlates could have promoted a significantly higher activation of the right PFC compared to the left PFC in the linguistic task [64]. ...
Currently, there is little understanding of how interoceptive attentiveness (IA) affects brain responses during synchronized cognitive or motor tasks. This pilot study explored the effect of explicit IA manipulation on hemodynamic correlates of simple cognitive tasks implying linguistic or motor synchronization. Eighteen healthy participants completed two linguistic and motor synchronization tasks during explicit IA and control conditions while oxygenated (O2Hb) and deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin variations were recorded by functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS). The findings suggested that the brain regions associated with sustained attention, such as the right prefrontal cortex (PFC), were more involved when an explicit focus on the breath was induced during the cognitive linguistic task requiring synchronization with a partner, as indicated by increased O2Hb. Interestingly, this effect was not significant for the motor task. In conclusion, for the first time, this pilot research found increased activity in neuroanatomical regions that promote sustained attention, attention reorientation, and synchronization when a joint task is carried out and the person is focusing on their physiological body reactions. Moreover, the results suggested that the benefits of conscious concentration on physiological interoceptive correlates while executing a task demanding synchronization, particularly verbal alignment, may be related to the right PFC.
... A coordination counting task showed similar involvement of central, parietal and occipital areas in alpha interbrain synchrony, especially in female dyads (Mu et al., 2016), which the authors relate to dyads' intent to coordinate. A study of hyperconnectivity during a cooperative decision task has reported theta synchrony in the central-frontal area and alpha synchrony in centroparietal regions, in line with the findings of our study (Hu et al., 2018), while near-infrared hyperscanning of a cooperative cognitive task also reported higher synchrony of the dyads' PFC after feedback (Balconi and Vanutelli, 2017). ...
EEG hyperscanning during multiuser gaming offers opportunities to study brain characteristics of social interaction under various paradigms. In this study, we aimed to characterize neural signatures and phase-based functional connectivity patterns of gaming strategies during collaborative and competitive alpha neurofeedback games. Twenty pairs of participants with no close relationship took part in three sessions of collaborative or competitive multiuser neurofeedback (NF), with identical graphical user interface, using Relative Alpha (RA) power as a control signal. Collaborating dyads had to keep their RA within 5% of each other for the team to be awarded a point, while members of competitive dyads scored points if their RA was 10% above their opponent's. Interbrain synchrony existed only during gaming but not during baseline in either collaborative or competitive gaming. Spectral analysis and interbrain connectivity showed that in collaborative gaming, players with higher resting state alpha content were more active in regulating their RA to match those of their partner. Moreover, interconnectivity was the strongest between homologous brain structures of the dyad in theta and alpha bands, indicating a similar degree of planning and social exchange. Competitive gaming emphasized the difference between participants who were able to relax and, in this way, maintain RA, and those who had an unsuccessful approach. Analysis of interbrain connections shows engagement of frontal areas in losers, but not in winners, indicating the formers' attempt to mentalise and apply strategies that might be suitable for conventional gaming, but inappropriate for the alpha neurofeedback-based game. We show that in gaming based on multiplayer non-verbalized NF, the winning strategy is dependent on the rules of the game and on the behavior of the opponent. Mental strategies that characterize successful gaming in the physical world might not be adequate for NF-based gaming.
... Finally, focusing on the role of interagents, we expected to observe a similar responsiveness in both the encoder and decoder due to the mechanisms of implicit coupling and synchrony that occur during gestural communication. As shown by previous studies [19,53], behavioral coordination and synthonization between interagents increase during joint actions, such as non-verbal exchanges, and foster inter-brain connectivity between individuals [36,37,54]. In light of that evidence, we hypothesized that we would observe an increase in delta and theta intra-brain connectivity in the frontal area for affective and social gestures, and in the parietal area for informative ones, in both the encoder and the decoder, due to mirroring and resonance mechanisms experienced during gestural communication. ...
Recently, the neurosciences have become interested in the investigation of neural responses associated with the use of gestures. This study focuses on the relationship between the intra-brain and inter-brain connectivity mechanisms underlying the execution of different categories of gestures (positive and negative affective, social, and informative) characterizing non-verbal interactions between thirteen couples of subjects, each composed of an encoder and a decoder. The study results underline a similar modulation of intra- and inter-brain connectivity for alpha, delta, and theta frequency bands in specific areas (frontal or posterior regions) depending on the type of gesture. Moreover, taking into account the gestures’ valence (positive or negative), a similar modulation of intra- and inter-brain connectivity in the left and right sides was observed. This study showed congruence in the intra-brain and inter-brain connectivity trend during the execution of different gestures, underlining how non-verbal exchanges might be characterized by intra-brain phase alignment and implicit mechanisms of mirroring and synchronization between the two individuals involved in the social exchange.
... In total, we identified 23 publications with a total of 1424 citations. Thirteen papers used solely the terminology cooperation and did not mention collaboration in their manuscripts (Cui et al., 2012;Liu et al., 2016;Cheng et al., 2015;Pan et al., 2017;Baker et al., 2016;Osaka et al., 2015;Balconi et al., 2017a;Astolfi et al., 2011;Balconi et al., 2017b;Astolfi et al., 2010;Nozawa et al., 2016;Duan et al., 2015;Vanutelli et al., 2016); while one publication contains only the terminology collaboration and the term cooperation is not used at all (Woolley et al., 2007). Seven other publications used both terminologies interchangeably (Toppi et al., 2016, Liu et al., 2017Babiloni et al., 2014;Cha et al., 2019;Gvirts et al., 2019;Mu et al., 2018;Mayseless et al., 2019); and two publications used neither cooperation nor collaboration throughout their manuscripts, however, listed parts of the above-mentioned papers in their references (Dai et al., 2018;Dumas et al., 2011). ...
In this book chapter, we present our scientific approach for applying the methods of fNIRS hyperscanning to decode distinct qualities of team interaction. Specifically, we are interested in detecting states of inter-brain synchrony that correlate with the behavioral states of cooperation and collaboration—terminologies which have been previously introduced as separate states in design thinking literature. We propose that the differentiation between those two concepts holds great promise for a better classification of team interaction, and a more thorough understanding of the dynamics leading to improved performance and (design) results. It is our hope that this work will provide more accurate and valuable information on human social interaction within working teams in the design thinking and related areas.
... An innovative paradigm, called hyperscanning, has been proposed to explore the synchronization that occurs between the interacting individuals during joint actions (Vanutelli et al., , 2017Balconi and Vanutelli, 2017b;Balconi et al., 2018). According to this recent paradigm, the focus is, therefore, on the recording of individuals' neurophysiological activity during various interpersonal dynamics (Schilbach et al., 2010). ...
Recently, social neurosciences have been interested in the investigation of neurophysiological responses related to the experience of positive emotions, such as gratitude, during social interactions. Specifically, the aim of the present research was to investigate whether gratitude related to gift exchange could favor cooperative behavior and bond construction, by improving behavioral and autonomic responsivity. At this regard, the autonomic synchronization and behavioral performance of 16 friends coupled in dyads were recorded during a joint attentional task. Gift exchange could be occurred either at the beginning or in the middle of the task. For the recording of simultaneous autonomic activity [heart rate (HR) and skin conductance level (SCL)], a hyperscanning biofeedback paradigm was used. Intra-subjective analysis showed an increase in behavioral [accuracy (ACC)] and autonomic responses (HR and SCL) when the gift exchange took place at the beginning of the task rather than in the middle. Moreover, inter-subjective analysis revealed an increase in behavioral performance and greater autonomic synchronization of HR index. The present research, therefore, shows how gratitude and trust experienced following gift exchange can modify participants’ reactions by creating a shared cognition and the adoption of joint strategies.
... Indeed, since these tuning mechanisms cannot be measured in isolation (Vanutelli et al., 2015;Balconi and Vanutelli, 2017b), hyperscanning is useful for their investigation in different common interaction contexts, such as communication exchanges or joint-actions. ...
... This definition partially overlaps with the concept of joint actions (Vesper et al., 2016) which is any kind of social interaction in which subjects share intentions (Fiebich, 2017). This leverages not only on social cognition processes, and in particular on social interaction, but also on cognitive and affective mechanisms of a single subject (Balconi and Vanutelli, 2017b). Recently a three-dimensional model for cooperation based on the cognitive, behavioural and affective axis has been proposed (Fiebich, 2019). ...
The neurophysiological analysis of cooperation has evolved over the past 20 years, moving towards the research of common patterns in neurophysiological signals of people interacting. Social Physiological Compliance (SPC) and Hyperscanning represent two frameworks for the joint analysis of autonomic and brain signals respectively. Each of the two approaches allows to know about a single layer of cooperation according to the nature of these signals: SPC provides information mainly related to emotions, and Hyperscanning that related to cognitive aspects. In this work, after the analysis of the state of the art of SPC and Hyperscanning, we explored the possibility to unify the two approaches creating a complete neurophysiological model for cooperation considering both affective and cognitive mechanisms. We synchronously recorded electrodermal activity, cardiac and brain signals of 14 cooperative dyads. Time series from these signals were extracted and Multivariate Granger Causality was computed. The results showed that only when subjects in a dyad cooperate there is a statistically significant causality between the multivariate variables representing each subject. Moreover, the entity of this statistical relationship correlates with the dyad's performance. Finally, given the novelty of this approach and its exploratory nature, we provided its strengths and limitations.
... To explore these mechanisms new and advanced methodologies have been developed. In this regard, an innovative research paradigm of cognitive and social neuroscience has been successfully proposed, that is hyperscanning [36,37]. It allows the simultaneous acquisition of the neurophysiological responses of two participants who interact naturally during a joint task [38]. ...
Background:
Recently several studies in the psychological and social field have investigated the social function of gift exchange as a useful way for the consolidation of interpersonal and social relationships and the implementation of prosocial behaviors. Specifically, the present research wanted to explore if gift exchange, increased emotional sharing, gratitude and interpersonal cooperation, leading to an improvement in cognitive and behavioral performance. In this regard, neural connectivity and cognitive performance of 14 pairs of friends were recorded during the development of a joint attention task that involved a gift exchange at the beginning or halfway through the task. The moment of gift exchange was randomized within the pairs: for seven couples, it happened at task beginning, for the remaining seven later. Individuals' simultaneous brain activity was recorded through the use of two electroencephalograms (EEG) systems that were used in hyperscanning.
Results:
The results showed that after gift exchange there was an improvement in behavioral performance in terms of accuracy. For what concerns EEG, instead, an increase of delta and theta activation was observed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) when gift exchange occurred at the beginning of the task. Furthermore, an increase in neural connectivity for delta and theta bands was observed.
Conclusion:
The present research provides a significant contribution to the exploration of the factors contributing to the strengthening of social bonds, increasing cooperation, gratitude and prosocial behavior.
Cooperative behavior is a vital social interaction which plays a vital role in improving human survival and reproduction. However, few empirical studies have examined the differences between cooperative behaviors and the underlying neural substrates. In the present study, the brain activity of familiar dyads of the same sex was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy during three cooperative tasks (cooperative button-press, tangram, and Jenga tasks). We also measured the dyads’ empathic abilities and personality traits to investigate the relationships between individual characteristics and neural markers. The results showed that first, there were signifcant differences in intra-brain activation and inter-brain synchronization among different cooperative tasks in three dimensions: social cognition, behavioral response, and cognitive processing. Second, male participants require stronger intra-brain activation to achieve the same inter-brain synchronization
level as women in cooperative tasks. Third, when performing cooperative tasks involving high cognitive demands, Big Five Neuroticism may be an important predictor of neural activation in female participants. Inter-brain synchronization plays an important role in the frontal and temporoparietal junctions during interpersonal cooperation. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that mutual prediction theory is crucial for understanding the neural mechanisms of cooperative behavior.
Hyperscanning is a form of neuroimaging experiment where the brains of two or more participants are imaged simultaneously whilst they interact. Within the domain of social neuroscience, hyperscanning is increasingly used to measure inter-brain coupling (IBC) and explore how brain responses change in tandem during social interaction. In addition to cognitive research, some have suggested that quantification of the interplay between interacting participants can be used as a biomarker for a variety of cognitive mechanisms aswell as to investigate mental health and developmental conditions including schizophrenia, social anxiety and autism. However, many different methods have been used to quantify brain coupling and this can lead to questions about comparability across studies and reduce research reproducibility. Here, we review methods for quantifying IBC, and suggest some ways moving forward. Following the PRISMA guidelines, we reviewed 215 hyperscanning studies, across four different brain imaging modalities: functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), functional magnetic resonance (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). Overall, the review identified a total of 27 different methods used to compute IBC. The most common hyperscanning modality is fNIRS, used by 119 studies, 89 of which adopted wavelet coherence. Based on the results of this literature survey, we first report summary statistics of the hyperscanning field, followed by a brief overview of each signal that is obtained from each neuroimaging modality used in hyperscanning. We then discuss the rationale, assumptions and suitability of each method to different modalities which can be used to investigate IBC. Finally, we discuss issues surrounding the interpretation of each method.
The study of competition from
a social comparison perspective offers valuable insights into the neuroscience of social judgment and decision making under uncertainty. When engaging in social comparison, individuals seek and assess information about similarities or differences between others and themselves, in large part to improve their self-evaluation. By providing information about one’s relative position, abilities, outcomes, and more, social comparisons can inform competitive judgments and decisions. People reasonably turn to social comparisons to reduce uncertainty before, during, and after competition. However, the extent to which they do so and the behavioral consequences of social comparisons often fail to match the potential benefits of improved self-evaluation. An examination of the developing neuroscience of social comparison and competition in light of the behavioral evidence reveals numerous questions that merit further investigation.
A partire dalla domanda proposta dall'articolo bersaglio: «Un'impostazione diversa della ricerca potrà poi permettere il passaggio dagli esiti delle indagini scientifiche, ispirandovisi, dei risultati della ricerca?», il presente contributo si prefigge di individuare traiettorie innovative che trovino, in nuovi paradigmi di ricerca, percorsi più funzionali per la diagnosi dei disturbi del neurosviluppo.Focalizzandosi in primo luogo su un piano di analisi metodologico, il contributo esplora come nuovi approcci basati sul paradigma hyperscanning possano offrire una lettura alternativa di tali disturbi come risultato di un processo in divenire, piuttosto che come ancoraggio a categorie prototipiche statiche volte a categorizzare il sintomo/sindrome. Diviene allora centrale cogliere le dinamiche di interpersonal-tuning o linguaggio cooperativo inter-cerebrale per giungere a definire un nuovo oggetto di analisi clinica, rappresentato dalla dinamica e dalla storia di quei sintomi piuttosto che da un ‘fermo-immagine' relativo all'hic et nunc. Sul versante clinico, le ricadute applicative e potenzialmente riabilitative si prefigurano come di indubbio interesse. In questa direzione, occorre che il setting diagnostico possa diventare momento di valutazione della qualità della relazione attraverso la manifestazione sintomatica o la sua assenza, nella reale dinamica che si prefigge di rappresentare, estendendo il fuoco dell'osservazione dal singolo paziente alla diade o al gruppo in interazione. È dunque possibile concludere che il tener conto di dati di ricerca dalla neuropsicologia, dalle neuroscienze e dall'osservazione clinica costituisce senza dubbio una sfida avvincente nel solco di una ridefinizione dei disturbi del neurosviluppo a fini diagnostici.
Machine learning (ML) is a subarea of artificial intelligence which uses the induction approach to learn based on previous experiences and make conclusions about new inputs (Mitchell, Machine learning. McGraw Hill, 1997). In the last decades, the use of ML approaches to analyze neuroimaging data has attracted widening attention (Pereira et al., Neuroimage 45(1):S199–S209, 2009; Lemm et al., Neuroimage 56(2):387–399, 2011). Particularly interesting recent applications to affective and social neuroscience include affective state decoding, exploring potential biomarkers of neurological and psychiatric disorders, predicting treatment response, and developing real-time neurofeedback and brain-computer interface protocols. In this chapter, we review the bases of the most common neuroimaging techniques, the basic concepts of ML, and how it can be applied to neuroimaging data. We also describe some recent examples of applications of ML-based analysis of neuroimaging data to social and affective neuroscience issues. Finally, we discuss the main ethical aspects and future perspectives for these emerging approaches.
Several studies have demonstrated sex differences in empathy and social abilities. This chapter reviews studies on sex differences in the brain, with particular reference to how women and men process faces and facial expressions, social interactions, pain of others, infant faces, faces in things ( pareidolia ), living vs. non-living information, purposeful actions, biological motion, erotic vs. emotional information. Sex differences in oxytocin-based attachment response and emotional memory are also discussed. Overall, the female and male brains show some neuro-functional differences in several aspects of social cognition, with particular regard to emotional coding, face processing and response to baby schema that might be interpreted in the light of evolutionary psychobiology.
Embodiment has been discussed in the context of social, affective, and cognitive psychology, and also in the investigations of neuroscience in order to understand the relationship between biological mechanisms, body and cognitive, and social and affective processes. New theoretical models have been presented by researchers considering not only the sensory–motor interaction and the environment but also biological mechanisms regulating homeostasis and neural processes (Tsakiris M, Q J Exp Psychol 70(4):597–609, 2017). Historically, the body and the mind were comprehended as separate entities. The body was considered to function as a machine, responsible for providing sensory information to the mind and executing its commands. The mind, however, would process information in an isolated way, similar to a computer (Pecher D, Zwaan RA, Grounding cognition: the role of perception and action in memory, language, and thinking. Cambridge University Press, 2005). This mind and body perspective (Marmeleira J, Duarte Santos G, Percept Motor Skills 126, 2019; Marshall PJ, Child Dev Perspect 10(4):245–250, 2016), for many years, was the basis for studies in social and cognitive areas, in neuroscience, and clinical psychology.
Emotions modulate behavioral priorities via central and peripheral nervous systems. Understanding emotions from the perspective of specific neurotransmitter systems is critical, because of the central role of affect in multiple psychopathologies and the role of specific neuroreceptor systems as corresponding drug targets. Here, we provide an integrative overview of molecular imaging studies that have targeted the human emotion circuit at the level of specific neuroreceptors and transmitters. We focus specifically on opioid, dopamine, and serotonin systems, given their key role in modulating motivation and emotions, and discuss how they contribute to both healthy and pathological emotions.Keywords
Molecular imaging
Human emotions
Dopamine systemSerotonin systemOpioid system
Recently, the “social brain” (i.e., how the brain works in social context and the mechanisms for our social behavior) has gained focus in neuroscience literature – largely due to the fact that recently developed techniques allow studying different aspects of human social cognition and its brain correlates. In this context, hyperscanning techniques (Montague et al., Neuroimage 16(4):1159–1164, 2002) open the horizon for human interaction studies, allowing for the evaluation of interbrain connectivity. These techniques represent methods for simultaneously recording signals from different brains when subjects are interacting. In this chapter, we will explore the potentials of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which are techniques based on blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signal. We will start with a brief explanation of the BOLD response basic principles and the mechanisms involved in fMRI and fNIRS measurements related to brain function. We will then discuss the foundation of the social brain, based on the first studies, with one subject per data acquisition, to allow for understanding the new possibilities that hyperscanning techniques offer. Finally, we will focus on the scientific literature reporting fMRI and fNIRShyperscanning contribution to understand the social brain.
Emotions play a very important role in moral judgments. Hume argues that morality is determined by feelings that make us define whether an attitude is virtuous or criminal. This implies that an individual relies on their past experience to make a moral judgment, so that when the mind contemplates what it knows, it may trigger emotions such as disgust, contempt, affection, admiration, anger, shame, and guilt (Hume D. An enquiry concerning the principles of morals, 1777 ed. Sec. VI, Part I, para, 196, 1777). Thus, even so-called “basic” emotions can be considered as moral emotions. As Haidt (The moral emotions. In: Handbook of affective sciences, vol 11, 852–870, Oxford University Press, 2003) points out, all emotional processing that leads to the establishment and maintenance of the integrity of human social structures can be considered as moral emotion. Consequently, the construct of “morality” is often characterized by a summation of both emotion and cognitive elaboration (Haidt J. Psychol Rev, 108(4):814, 2001).
Social cognition refers to a wide range of cognitive abilities that allow individuals to understand themselves and others and also communicate in social interaction contexts (Adolphs, Curr Opin Neurobiol 11(2):231–239, 2001). According to Adolphs (Annu Rev Psychol 60(1):693–716, 2009), social cognition deals with psychological processes that allow us to make inferences about what is happening inside other people—their intentions, feelings, and thoughts. Although the term can be defined in many ways, it is clear that it must be safeguarded for the mental operations underlying social interactions. The most investigated cognitive processes of social cognition are emotion recognition and theory of mind (ToM), given that a whole range of socio-affective and interpersonal skills, such as empathy, derive from them (Mitchell RL, Phillips LH, Neuropsychologia, 70:1–10, 2015). Theory of mind is an intuitive ability to attribute thoughts and feelings to other people, and this ability usually matures in children in preschool age (Wellman HM, The child’s theory of mind. Bradford Books/MIT, 1990), whereas emotional recognition refers to an individual’s ability to identify others’ emotions and affective states, usually based on their facial or vocal expressions, it is a critical skill that develops early and supports the development of other social skills (Mitchell RL, Phillips LH, Neuropsychologia, 70:1–10, 2015).
Transcranial brain stimulation (TBS) is a term that denotes different noninvasive techniques which aim to modulate brain cortical activity through an external source, usually an electric or magnetic one. Currently, there are several techniques categorized as TBS. However, two are more used for scientific research, the transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which stimulate brain areas with a high-intensity magnetic field or a weak electric current on the scalp, respectively. They represent an enormous contribution to behavioral, cognitive, and social neuroscience since they reveal how delimited brain cortical areas contribute to some behavior or cognition. They have also been proposed as a feasible tool in the clinical setting since they can modulate abnormal cognition or behavior due to brain activity modulation. This chapter will present the standard methods of transcranial stimulation, their contributions to social and affective neuroscience through a few main topics, and the studies that adopted those techniques, also summing their findings.
No matter how hard you try—pinching different parts of your body, slapping your face, or moving restlessly in your seat—you cannot prevent your mind from occasionally escaping from the present experience as you enter into a mental navigation mode. Sometimes spontaneously, others deliberately, your mind may move to a different time—you may see yourself running an experiment inspired by the chapter you just finished reading or you may imagine yourself on a quantum leap into the future as you fantasize about the delivery of your Nobel Prize acceptance speech. Your mind may move to a distinct space, for example, as you replay last weekend’s party or anticipate a most desirable date, and may even venture into the mind of another (e.g., as you embody the mind of the author you are currently reading). Our minds can accomplish all this mental navigation in fractions of a second, allowing us to see ourselves or even impersonate different people across space and time. While teleportation and time travel may never be physically possible, our wandering minds are indeed very accomplished “time machines” (Suddendorf T, Corballis MC, Behav Brain Sci 30(3), 2007).
This chapter provides information about facial electromyography (EMG) as a method of investigating emotions and affect, including examples of application and methods for analysis. This chapter begins with a short introduction to emotion theory followed by an operationalisation of facial emotional expressions as an underlying requirement for their study using facial EMG. This chapter ends by providing practical information on the use of facial EMG.KeywordsElectromyographyFacial EMGFacial emotional expressionsFacial muscles
The neurocognitive mechanism of emotion without conscious awareness has long been a subject of great interest (Pribram KH, Gill MM, Freud’s “project” re-assessed: preface to contemporary cognitive theory and neuropsychology. Basic Books, 1976). Several pervious psychological studies have used subliminal presentations of emotional facial expressions in the context of the affective priming paradigm to investigate unconscious emotional processing (e.g., Murphy ST, Zajonc RB, J Person Soc Psychol 64:723–739, 1993; for a review, see Eastwood JD, Smilek D, Conscious Cognit 14:565–584, 2005). In a typical application of this paradigm, a facial expression depicting a negative or positive emotion is flashed briefly as a prime, then an emotionally neutral target (e.g., an ideograph) is presented. Participants are asked to make emotion-related judgments about the target. The studies reported that evaluations of the target were negatively biased by unconscious negative primes, compared to positive primes. This effect has been interpreted as evidence that unconscious emotion can be elicited and that it affects the evaluation of unrelated targets.
Human trust can be construed as a heuristic wager on the predictability and benevolence of others, within a compatible worldview. A leap of faith across gaps in information. Generally, we posit that trust constitutes a functional bridge between individual and group homeostasis, by helping minimize energy consumed in continuously monitoring the behavior of others and verifying their assertions, thus reducing group complexity and facilitating coordination. Indeed, we argue that trust is crucial to the formation and maintenance of collective entities. However, the wager that trust represents in the face of uncertainty leaves the possibility of misallocated trust, which can result in maladaptive outcomes for both individuals and groups. More specifically, trust can be thought of as a scale-invariant property of minimizing prediction error within ascending levels of social hierarchy ranging from individual brains to dyads, groups and societies, and ultimately civilizations. This framework permits us to examine trust from multiple perspectives at once, relating homeostasis, subjective affect and predictive processing/active inference at the individual level, with complexity and homeostasis at the collective level. We propose trust as a paradigmatic instance of an intrinsically dialectical phenomenon bridging individual and collective levels of organization, one that can be observed in daily experience and empirically studied in the real world. Here, we suggest collective psychophysiology as a promising paradigm for studying the multiscale dynamics of trust. We conclude with discussing how our integrative approach could help shine light on not only the bright but also the dark sides of trust.
Disturbances of social and affective processes are at the core of psychiatric disorders. Together with genetic predisposing factors, deprivation of social contact and dysfunctional relationships during development are some of the most important contributors to psychiatric disorders over the lifetime, while some developmental disorders manifest as aberrant social behavior early in life. That the cause of mental illness is rooted in the brain was long held as a truism, yet finding the causes for and neurobiological correlates of these conditions in the brain has proven and continues to be difficult (Venkatasubramanian G, Keshavan MS, Ann Neurosci 23:3–5. https://doi.org/10.1159/000443549 , 2016). In clinical practice, psychiatric disorders are diagnosed based on categorical manuals, such as the DSM and ICD, which form a useful guide for clinical diagnosis and interventions. Yet, understanding the specific neural mechanisms leading to or characterizing distinct psychiatric conditions through this categorical approach has been slow (see, for example, Lynch CJ, Gunning FM, Liston C, Biol Psychiatry 88:83–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.01.012 , 2020). Findings in the brain often do not seem to lend support to common mechanisms for the defined disorder categories. This is not particularly surprising because, in these diagnostic manuals, multiple combinations of symptoms can often lead to the same diagnosis, which is reflected in highly variable phenotypes of psychiatric disorders.
Appreciating beauty is part of everyday life, when we contemplate fine arts, architecture, music, and natural scenes. Aesthetic appreciation, like any ordinary phenomenon of human life, triggers affective and cognitive processes that can provide the subject with sensations of hedonic pleasure and cognitive self-reward (Leder H, Belke B, Oeberst A, Augustin D. Br J Psychol 95(4):489–508, 2004). Although humans share several neuropsychological processes, the experience of aesthetic appreciation is undeniably idiosyncratic, and sometimes it is not that simple to find beauty where we were supposed to find it, and more often the same object can elicit different reactions amongst observers.
Inter-brain synchronization is enhanced when individuals perform rhythmic interpersonal coordination tasks, such as playing instruments in music ensembles. Experimentally, synchronization has been shown to correlate with the performance of joint tapping tasks. However, it is unclear whether inter-brain synchronization is related to the stability of interpersonal coordination represented as the standard deviation of relative phase (SDRP). In this study, we simultaneously recorded electroencephalograms of two paired individuals during anti-phase tapping in three speed conditions: slow (reference inter-tap interval [ITI]: 0.5 s), fast (reference ITI: 0.25 s), and free (preferred ITI). We calculated the inter-brain synchronization within six regions of interest: frontal, central, left/right temporal, parietal, and occipital regions. We found that synchronization of the central-temporal regions was positively correlated with SDRP in the theta and alpha bands, while synchronization of the frontal-frontal and frontal-central was positively correlated with SDRP in the beta band. These results demonstrate that inter-brain synchronization occurs only when task requirements are high, and that it increases with the instability of the coordination. This may be explained by the stronger mutual prediction required in unstable coordination than that in stable coordination, which increases inter-brain synchronization.
Objective:
to characterize the direction within and between brain connectivity in winning and losing players in a competitive brain-computer interface game.
Approach:
ten dyads (26.9 ± 4.7 years old, eight females and 12 males) participated in the study. In a competitive game based on neurofeedback, they used their relative alpha (RA) band power from the electrode location Pz, to control a virtual seesaw. The players in each pair were separated into winners (W) and losers (L) based on their scores. Intrabrain connectivity was analyzed using multivariate Granger Causality (GC) and Directed Transfer Function, while interbrain connectivity was analyzed using bivariate GC.
Results:
linear regression analysis revealed a significant relationship (p<0.05) between RA and individual scores. During the game, W players maintained a higher RA than L players, although it was not higher than their baseline RA. The analysis of intrabrain GC indicated that both groups engaged in general social interactions, but only the W group succeeded in controlling their brain activity at Pz. Group L applied an inappropriate metal strategy, characterized by strong activity in the left frontal cortex, indicative of collaborative gaming. Interbrain GC showed a larger flow of information from the L to the W group, suggesting a higher capability of the W group to monitor the activity of their opponent.
Significance:
both innate neurological indices and gaming mental strategies contribute to game outcomes. Future studies should investigate whether there is a causal relationship between these two factors.
The digitalization of learning in the organization represents both a necessity and an
opportunity. Little to no research explored how distance training affects cognitive and
affective processes in individuals and workgroups. For this reason, in this work, we
propose an hyperscanning research design where conversational analysis is used to
compare neurophysiological measures (frequency band analysis: delta, theta, alpha, and
beta) between an equivalent training session carried out in two conditions (face-to-face
and remote), by collecting electroencephalographic data (EEG) on a trainer and three
groups of trainees. We theoretically describe the protocol, and we further report initial
explorative results. Data showed a significant effect of the condition on both theta and
beta waves, with higher synchronization for the face-to-face setting. Also, trainees seem
more impacted by the delivery modality compared to the trainer. This work highlights
the relevance of neurophysiological measures to test e-learning efficacy.
In the last 25 years, the field of neuroscience has seen exponential growth due to technological advances, which have not only allowed for collecting more accurate data, but also for addressing a variety of innovative studies for human development understanding. Neurofeedback (NF), and particularly Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI) applications, are among the most promising methods, since they enable individuals to interact with a computer by using their brain activity to learn implicitly and train some specific cognitive and affective functions. These applications proved to be suitable for many different fields, from research to clinical practice. However, NF was used only in individual settings, with participants interacting with a computer, while more ecological and complex phenomena could be better explored in interactive contexts. In the present work, we propose that the future of BCI provided NF may lie in the development of interactive settings where two or more participants can be informed about their inter-brain synchrony to train and reinforce them towards enhanced joint interactions and promote learning and empowerment. We propose that BCI methods should move to brain-X-brain-computer interfaces (B 2 CI). In this new protocol, that we called "hyperfeedback," brain signals coming from two people involved in a joint setting are processed so to provide a compound feedback. The possible applications of such a paradigm are discussed.
Complex work in teams requires coordination across team members and their technology as well as the ability to change and adapt over time to achieve effective performance. To support such complex interactions, recent efforts have worked toward the design of adaptive human‐autonomy teaming systems that can provide feedback in or near real time to achieve the desired individual or team results. However, while significant advancements have been made to better model and understand the dynamics of team interaction and its relationship with task performance, appropriate measures of team coordination and computational methods to detect changes in coordination have not yet been widely investigated. Having the capacity to measure coordination in real time is quite promising as it provides the opportunity to provide adaptive feedback that may influence and regulate teams’ coordination patterns and, ultimately, drive effective team performance. A critical requirement to reach this potential is having the theoretical and empirical foundation from which to do so. Therefore, the first goal of the paper is to review approaches to coordination dynamics, identify current research gaps, and draw insights from other areas, such as social interaction, relationship science, and psychotherapy. The second goal is to collate extant work on feedback and advance ideas for adaptive feedback systems that have potential to influence coordination in a way that can enhance the effectiveness of team interactions. In addressing these two goals, this work lays the foundation as well as plans for the future of human‐autonomy teams that augment team interactions using coordination‐based measures.
Neurotechnologies—neuroimaging, brain stimulation, neuroprosthetics, brain-computer interfaces, optogenetics—are fairly new, but they are likely to progress rapidly and become increasingly widespread. These technologies are being developed primarily for medical purposes; however, applications in other fields are already under way. Intervening in brain functioning can have major implications for our free will and our autonomy. However, the effects are not unequivocal. Some techniques and some of their uses may increase our freedom, while other techniques and other uses may limit it. In this chapter, I propose an operationalised definition of free will and autonomy that is functional for the following discussion. Second, I briefly present some neurotechnologies and their current and future uses. Finally, I focus on the ethical, social and individual welfare evaluation of some neurotechnologies and their possible uses with regard to free will and autonomy.KeywordsControlNeurostimulationOptogeneticsMemoryPolitics
The digitalization process for organizations, which was inevitably accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, raises relevant challenges for Human Resource Management (HRM) because every technological implementation has a certain impact on human beings. Between many organizational HRM practices, recruitment and assessment interviews represent a significant moment where a social interaction provides the context for evaluating candidates’ skills. It is therefore relevant to investigate how different interaction frames and relational conditions affect such task, with a specific focus on the differences between face-to-face (FTF) and remote computer-mediated (RCM) interaction settings. In particular, the possibility of qualifying and quantifying the mechanisms shaping the efficiency of interaction in the recruiter-candidate dyad—i.e. interpersonal attunement—is potentially insightful. We here present a neuroscientific protocol aimed at elucidating the impact of FTF vs. RCM modalities on social dynamics within assessment interviews. Specifically, the hyperscanning approach, understood as the concurrent recording and integrated analysis of behavioural-physiological responses of interacting agents, will be used to evaluate recruiter-candidate dyads while they are involved in either FTF or RCM conditions. Specifically, the protocol has been designed to collect self-report, oculometric, autonomic (electrodermal activity, heart rate, heart rate variability), and neurophysiological (electroencephalography) metrics from both inter-agents to explore the perceived quality of the interaction, automatic visual-attentional patterns of inter-agents, as well as their cognitive workload and emotional engagement. The proposed protocol will provide a theoretical evidence-based framework to assess possible differences between FTF vs. RMC settings in complex social interactions, with a specific focus on job interviews.
Gestural communication allows providing information about thoughts and feelings, characterizing face-to-face interactions, also during non-verbal exchanges. In the present study, the autonomic responses and peripheral synchronization mechanisms of two individuals (encoder and decoder) were recorded simultaneously, through the use of biofeedback in hyperscanning, during two different experimental phases consisting in the observation (watching videos of gestures) and reproduction of positive and negative different types of gestures (affective, social and informative) supported by linguistic contexts. Therefore, the main aim of this study was focused on the analysis of simultaneous individuals' peripheral mechanisms during the performing of complex joint action, consisting of the observation (watching videos) and the reproduction of positive and negative social, affective, and informative gestures each supported by a linguistic script. Single-subject and inter-subject correlation analyses were conducted to observe individuals' autonomic responses and physiological synchronization. Single-subject results revealed an increase in emotional arousal, indicated by an increase in electrodermal activity (skin conductance level - SCL and response - SCR), during both the observation (watching videos) and reproduction of negative social and affective gestures contextualized by a linguistic context. Moreover, an increase of emotional engagement, expressed by an increase in heart rate (HR) activity, emerged in the encoder compare to the decoder during gestures reproduction (simulation of gestures). Inter-subject correlation results showed the presence of mirroring mechanisms, indicated by an increase in SCL, SCR, and HR synchronization, during the linguistic contexts and gesture observation (watching videos). Furthermore, an increase in SCL and SCR synchronization emerged during the observation (watching videos) and reproduction of negative social and affective gestures. Therefore, the present study allowed to obtain information on the mirroring mechanisms and physiological synchronization underlying the linguistic and gesture system during non-verbal interaction.
The ubiquity of technology in today’s world is exemplified by our ability to connect with each other instantly all around the globe. Advances in video conferencing capabilities combined with dramatic socio-dynamic shifts brought about by COVID-19 have redefined the ways in which humans interact in modern society. Human reliance on effective virtual interfacing (e.g., zoom conferencing) is evermore present in today’s COVID-19 world and will undoubtedly expand in the future. This unprecedented rise in digitalization has direct implications on the output and productivity of human interactions across all design (thinking) activities and practices. Working in a virtual environment limits access to traditional design thinking tools such as (analog) “artifacts” or “manipulatives” (e.g., physical prototypes, post-its, etc.). As both neuroscientists and design researchers, we are interested in elucidating the neurobiological signatures that underlie these adapted human-to-human interactions. Our overarching goal is to understand and uncover the differences in collaborative outcomes (e.g., creativity) and inter-brain synchrony in virtual versus in-person interactions using both analog and digital manipulatives. We proposed an emergent technology in brain-imaging—hyperscanning (i.e., measuring two brains simultaneously to derive measures of inter-brain synchrony) with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)—as an ideal brain-imaging technique to tackle this challenge. A better understanding of how the nuances of these dynamics impact inter-brain synchrony during an innovation event will provide new insights for interventions or technology that can help optimize successful interaction in both scenarios. To inform the design of future fNIRS hyperscanning studies, we review the existing fNIRS hyperscanning literature in this book chapter. On the basis of the existing literature, we highlight the current gaps in research regarding virtual interactions. We provide insight into current hurdles regarding fNIRS hyperscanning hardware and methodology and give recommendations on how to advance the field of fNIRS hyperscanning relevant to design research in the digital age.
Advances in video conferencing capabilities combined with dramatic socio-dynamic shifts brought about by COVID-19, have redefined the ways in which humans interact in modern society. From business meetings to medical exams, or from classroom instruction to yoga class, virtual interfacing has permeated nearly every aspect of our daily lives. A seemingly endless stream of technological advances combined with our newfound reliance on virtual interfacing makes it likely that humans will continue to use this modern form of social interaction into the future. However, emergent evidence suggests that virtual interfacing may not be equivalent to face-to-face interactions. Ultimately, too little is currently understood about the mechanisms that underlie human interactions over the virtual divide, including how these mechanisms differ from traditional face-to-face interaction. Here, we propose functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning-simultaneous measurement of two or more brains-as an optimal approach to quantify potential neurocognitive differences between virtual and in-person interactions. We argue that increased focus on this understudied domain will help elucidate the reasons why virtual conferencing doesn't always stack up to in-person meetings and will also serve to spur new technologies designed to improve the virtual interaction experience. On the basis of existing fNIRS hyperscanning literature, we highlight the current gaps in research regarding virtual interactions. Furthermore, we provide insight into current hurdles regarding fNIRS hyperscanning hardware and methodology that should be addressed in order to shed light on this newly critical element of everyday life.
Gestural communication characterizes daily individuals’ interactions in order to share information and to modify others’ behavior. Social neuroscience has investigated the neural bases which support recognizing of different gestures. The present research, through the use of the hyperscanning approach, that allows the simultaneously recording of the activity of two or more individuals involved in a joint action, aims to investigate the neural bases of gestural communication. Moreover, by using hyperscanning paradigm we explore the inter-brain connectivity between two inter-agents, the one who performed the gesture (encoder) and the one who received it (decoder), with functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the reproduction of affective, social and informative gestures with positive and negative valence. Result showed an increase in oxygenated hemoglobin concentration (O2Hb) and inter-brain connectivity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) for affective gestures, in the superior frontal gyrus (SFG) for social gestures and the frontal eye fields (FEF) for informative gestures, for both encoder and decoder. Furthermore, it emerged that positive gestures activate more the left DLPFC, with an increase in inter-brain connectivity in DLPFC and SFG. The present study revealed the relevant function of the type and valence of gestures in affecting intra- and inter-brain connectivity.
Introduction
Gestures characterize individuals' nonverbal communicative exchanges, taking on different functions. Several types of research in the neuroscientific field have been interested in the investigation of the neural correlates underlying the observation and implementation of different gestures categories. In particular, different studies have focused on the neural correlates underlying gestures observation, emphasizing the presence of mirroring mechanisms in specific brain areas, which appear to be involved in gesture observation and planning mechanisms.
Materials and methods
Specifically, the present study aimed to investigate the neural mechanisms, through the use of functional Near‐Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), underlying the observation of affective, social, and informative gestures with positive and negative valence in individuals' dyads composed by encoder and decoder. The variations of oxygenated (O2Hb) and deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin concentrations of both individuals were collected simultaneously through the use of hyperscanning paradigm, allowing the recording of brain responsiveness and interbrain connectivity.
Results
The results showed a different brain activation and an increase of interbrain connectivity according to the type of gestures observed, with a significant increase of O2Hb brain responsiveness and interbrain connectivity and a decrease of HHb brain responsiveness for affective gestures in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and for social gestures in the superior frontal gyrus (SFG). Furthermore, concerning the valence of the observed gestures, an increase of O2Hb brain activity and interbrain connectivity was observed in the left DLPFC for positive affective gestures compared to negative ones.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the present study showed different brain responses underlying the observation of different types of positive and negative gestures. Moreover, interbrain connectivity calculation allowed us to underline the presence of mirroring mechanisms involved in gesture‐specific frontal regions during gestures observation and action planning.
Researchers from multiple fields have sought to understand how sex moderates human social behavior. While over 50 years of research has revealed differences in cooperation behavior of males and females, the underlying neural correlates of these sex differences have not been explained. A missing and fundamental element of this puzzle is an understanding of how the sex composition of an interacting dyad influences the brain and behavior during cooperation. Using fNIRS-based hyperscanning in 111 same- and mixed-sex dyads, we identified significant behavioral and neural sex-related differences in association with a computer-based cooperation task. Dyads containing at least one male demonstrated significantly higher behavioral performance than female/female dyads. Individual males and females showed significant activation in the right frontopolar and right inferior prefrontal cortices, although this activation was greater in females compared to males. Female/female dyad’s exhibited significant inter-brain coherence within the right temporal cortex, while significant coherence in male/male dyads occurred in the right inferior prefrontal cortex. Significant coherence was not observed in mixed-sex dyads. Finally, for same-sex dyads only, task-related inter-brain coherence was positively correlated with cooperation task performance. Our results highlight multiple important and previously undetected influences of sex on concurrent neural and behavioral signatures of cooperation.
Cooperation and free riding are among the most frequently observed behaviors in human social decision-making. In social interactions, the effects of strategic decision processes have been consistently reported in iterative cooperation decisions. However, the neural activity immediately after new information is presented, the time at which strategy learning potentially starts, has not yet been investigated with high temporal resolution. Here, we implemented an iterative, binary public goods game (PGG) that simulates cooperation/free riding behavior. We applied the multi-feature pattern analysis method by using a support vector machine (SVM) and the unique combinatorial performance (UCP) measure, and identified neural features from the single-trial, event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) at the result-presentation of the current round that predict participants' decisions to cooperate or free ride in the subsequent round. We found that neural oscillations in centroparietal and temporal regions showed the highest predictive power through 10-fold cross-validation; these predicted the participants' next decisions, which were independent of the neural responses during their own preceding choices. We suggest that the spatial distribution and time-frequency information of the selected features represent covert motivations to free ride or cooperate in the next round and are separately processed in parallel with information regarding the preceding results.
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Although the human brain may have evolutionarily adapted to face-to-face communication, other modes of communication, e.g., telephone and e-mail, increasingly dominate our modern daily life. This study examined the neural difference between face-to-face communication and other types of communication by simultaneously measuring two brains using a hyperscanning approach. The results showed a significant increase in the neural synchronization in the left inferior frontal cortex during a face-to-face dialog between partners but none during a back-to-back dialog, a face-to-face monologue, or a back-to-back monologue. Moreover, the neural synchronization between partners during the face-to-face dialog resulted primarily from the direct interactions between the partners, including multimodal sensory information integration and turn-taking behavior. The communicating behavior during the face-to-face dialog could be predicted accurately based on the neural synchronization level. These results suggest that face-to-face communication, particularly dialog, has special neural features that other types of communication do not have and that the neural synchronization between partners may underlie successful face-to-face communication.
A new theory of similarity, rooted in the detection and recognition literatures, is developed. The general recognition theory assumes that the perceptual effect of a stimulus is random but that on any single trial it can be represented as a point in a multidimensional space. Similarity is a function of the overlap of perceptual distributions. It is shown that the general recognition theory contains Euclidean distance models of similarity as a special case but that unlike them, it is not constrained by any distance axioms. Three experiments are reported that test the empirical validity of the theory. In these experiments the general recognition theory accounts for similarity data as well as the currently popular similarity theories do, and it accounts for identification data as well as the longstanding "champion" identification model does. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Conceptual and empirical approaches to the study of the role of asymmetric frontal cortical activity in emotional processes are reviewed. Although early research suggested that greater left than right frontal cortical activity was associated with positive affect, more recent research, primarily on anger, suggests that greater left than right frontal cortical activity is associated with approach motivation, which can be positive (e.g., enthusiasm) or negative in valence (e.g., anger). In addition to reviewing this research on anger, research on guilt, bipolar disorder, and various types of positive affect is reviewed with relation to their association with asymmetric frontal cortical activity. The reviewed research not only contributes to a more complete understanding of the emotive functions of asymmetric frontal cortical activity, but it also points to the importance of considering motivational direction as separate from affective valence in psychological models of emotional space.
Understanding the neural mechanisms responsible for human social interactions is difficult, since the brain activities of two or more individuals have to be examined simultaneously and correlated with the observed social patterns. We introduce the concept of hyper-brain network, a connectivity pattern representing at once the information flow among the cortical regions of a single brain as well as the relations among the areas of two distinct brains. Graph analysis of hyper-brain networks constructed from the EEG scanning of 26 couples of individuals playing the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma reveals the possibility to predict non-cooperative interactions during the decision-making phase. The hyper-brain networks of two-defector couples have significantly less inter-brain links and overall higher modularity--i.e., the tendency to form two separate subgraphs--than couples playing cooperative or tit-for-tat strategies. The decision to defect can be "read" in advance by evaluating the changes of connectivity pattern in the hyper-brain network.
Cooperation among genetically unrelated individuals is a fundamental aspect of society, but it has been a longstanding puzzle
in biological and social sciences. Recently, theoretical studies in biology and economics showed that conditional cooperation—cooperating
only with those who have exhibited cooperative behavior—can spread over a society. Furthermore, experimental studies in psychology
demonstrated that people are actually conditional cooperators. In this study, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging
to investigate the neural system underlying conditional cooperation by scanning participants during interaction with cooperative,
neutral and non-cooperative opponents in prisoner's dilemma games. The results showed that: (i) participants cooperated more
frequently with both cooperative and neutral opponents than with non-cooperative opponents; and (ii) a brain area related
to cognitive inhibition of pre-potent responses (right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) showed greater activation, especially
when participants confronted non-cooperative opponents. Consequently, we suggest that cognitive inhibition of the motivation
to cooperate with non-cooperators drives the conditional behavior.
During behavioral adaptation through interaction with human and nonhuman agents, marked individual differences are seen in both real-life situations and games. However, the underlying neural mechanism is not well understood. We conducted a neuroimaging experiment in which subjects maximized monetary rewards by learning in a prisoner's dilemma game with two computer agents: agent A, a tit-for-tat player who repeats the subject's previous action, and agent B, a simple stochastic cooperator oblivious to the subject's action. Approximately 1/3 of the subjects (group I) learned optimally in relation to both A and B, while another 1/3 (group II) did so only for B. Post-experiment interviews indicated that group I exploited the agent strategies more often than group II. Significant differences in learning-related brain activity between the two groups were only found in the superior temporal sulcus (STS) for both A and B. Furthermore, the learning performance of each group I subject was predictable based on this STS activity, but not in the group II subjects. This differential activity could not be attributed to a behavioral difference since it persisted in relation to agent B for which the two groups behaved similarly. In sharp contrast, the brain structures for reward processing were recruited similarly by both groups. These results suggest that STS provides knowledge of the other agent's strategies for association between action and reward and highlights learning competence during interactive reinforcement learning.
It has been argued that power activates a general tendency to approach whereas powerlessness activates a tendency to inhibit.
The assumption is that elevated power involves reward-rich environments, freedom and, as a consequence, triggers an approach-related
motivational orientation and attention to rewards. In contrast, reduced power is associated with increased threat, punishment
and social constraint and thereby activates inhibition-related motivation. Moreover, approach motivation has been found to
be associated with increased relative left-sided frontal brain activity, while withdrawal motivation has been associated with
increased right sided activations. We measured EEG activity while subjects engaged in a task priming either high or low social
power. Results show that high social power is indeed associated with greater left-frontal brain activity compared to low social
power, providing the first neural evidence for the theory that high power is associated with approach-related motivation.
We propose a framework accounting for differences in both approach motivation and goal-directed behaviour associated with
different levels of power.
"Plain question and plain answer make the shortest road out of most perplexities." Mark Twain-Life on the Mississippi. A new methodology for the measurement of the neural substrates of human social interaction is described. This technology, termed "Hyperscan," embodies both the hardware and the software necessary to link magnetic resonance scanners through the internet. Hyperscanning allows for the performance of human behavioral experiments in which participants can interact with each other while functional MRI is acquired in synchrony with the behavioral interactions. Data are presented from a simple game of deception between pairs of subjects. Because people may interact both asymmetrically and asynchronously, both the design and the analysis must accommodate this added complexity. Several potential approaches are described.
Damage to the human ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VM) can result in dramatic and maladaptive changes in social behavior despite preservation of most other cognitive abilities. One important aspect of social cognition is the ability to detect social dominance, a process of attributing from particular social signals another person's relative standing in the social world. To test the role of the VM in making attributions of social dominance, we designed two experiments: one requiring dominance judgments from static pictures of faces, the second requiring dominance judgments from film clips. We tested three demographically matched groups of subjects: subjects with focal lesions in the VM (n = 15), brain-damaged comparison subjects with lesions excluding the VM (n = 11), and a reference group of normal individuals with no history of neurological disease (n = 32). Contrary to our expectation, we found that subjects with VM lesions gave dominance judgments on both tasks that did not differ significantly from those given by the other groups. Despite their grossly normal performance, however, subjects with VM lesions showed more subtle impairments specifically when judging static faces: They were less discriminative in their dominance judgments, and did not appear to make normal use of gender and age of the faces in forming their judgments. The findings suggest that, in the laboratory tasks we used, damage to the VM does not necessarily impair judgments of social dominance, although it appears to result in alterations in strategy that might translate into behavioral impairments in real life.
Self-perception theory posits that people sometimes infer their own attributes by observing their freely chosen actions. The authors hypothesized that in addition, people sometimes infer their own attributes by observing the freely chosen actions of others with whom they feel a sense of merged identity--almost as if they had observed themselves performing the acts. Before observing an actor's behavior, participants were led to feel a sense of merged identity with the actor through perspective-taking instructions (Study 1) or through feedback indicating that their brainwave patterns overlapped substantially with those of the actor (Studies 2-4). As predicted, participants incorporated attributes relevant to an actor's behavior into their own self-concepts, but only when they were led to feel a sense of merged identity with the actor and only when the actor's behavior seemed freely chosen. These changes in relevant self-perceptions led participants to change their own behaviors accordingly. Implications of these vicarious self-perception processes for conformity, perspective-taking, and the long-term development of the self-concept are discussed.
Whether social comparison affects individual well-being is of central importance for understanding behavior in any social
environment. Traditional economic theories focus on the role of absolute rewards, whereas behavioral evidence suggests that
social comparisons influence well-being and decisions. We investigated the impact of social comparisons on reward-related
brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). While being scanned in two adjacent MRI scanners, pairs
of subjects had to simultaneously perform a simple estimation task that entailed monetary rewards for correct answers. We
show that a variation in the comparison subject's payment affects blood oxygenation level–dependent responses in the ventral
striatum. Our results provide neurophysiological evidence for the importance of social comparison on reward processing in
the human brain.
When individuals act alone, they can internally coordinate the actions at hand. Such coordination is not feasible when individuals act together in a group. The present research examines to what extent groups encounter specific challenges when acting jointly and whether these challenges impede extending planning into the future. Individuals and groups carried out a tracking task that required learning a new anticipatory control strategy. The results show that groups face additional demands that are harder to overcome when planning needs to be extended into the future. Information about others' actions is a necessary condition for groups to effectively learn to extend their plans. Possible mechanisms for exerting and learning anticipatory control are discussed.
The industrial organization of transactions has changed dramatically during the past decade (Thompson and Wright, 1988). Several scholars have discussed and documented the phenomenon of what has been called `the shrinking organization'' (Ford and Farmer, 1986; Lichtenberg, 1992). The apparent failure of `hierarchies'' has been accompanied with the growing importance of cooperation in modern business. The latter poses a serious challenge to managers, especially in the Western world. The reason is that American and European managers are educated to be competitive and to maximize their self-interested objectives (Frank, Gilovich and Regan, 1993). Moreover, cooperation is not socially embedded in these societies - as this is, for instance, the case in Japan. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of the determinants of cooperative behavior. Until now, most scholars have concentrated on macro-determinants, such as differences between the Western world and Japan (e.g., Kawasaki and McMillan, 1986). Less attention has been given to the underlying micro-mechanisms. More specifically, we argue that individuals differ as to their inclination to cooperate. To explore this issue, we conducted an experiment at the University of Limburg (Maastricht, The Netherlands). The main part of this paper is devoted to the investigation of the effect of subjective and objective individual differences on competitive versus cooperative behavior in five Prisoner''s Dilemma games. As far as subjective characteristics of individuals are concerned, the paper deals with four personality traits: locus of control, self-monitoring, type-A behavior and sensation seeking. Next, we report results on the influence of objective factors - notably gender, age and prior knowledge of the self-interest model of economics. In addition, the conditions of the five games were varied to analyze the role of a number of situational determinants in explaining (non-)cooperative behavior. In thi
The present study investigated to what extent group membership affects an actor's representation of their partner's task in cooperative joint action. Participants performed a joint pick-and-place task in a naturalistic, breakfast-table-like paradigm which allowed the demonstration of varying degrees of cooperation. Participants transported a wooden cup from one end of a table to the other, with one actor moving it to an intermediate position from where their partner transported it to a goal position. Hand and finger movements were recorded via 3D motion tracking to assess actors' cooperative behavior. Before the joint action task was performed, participants were categorized as belonging to the same or to different groups, supposedly based on an assessment of their cognitive processing styles. Results showed that the orientation of the actors' fingers when picking up the cup was affected by its required angle at the goal position. When placing the cup at the intermediate position, most actors adapted the rotation of the cup's handle to the joint action goal, thereby facilitating the partner's subsequent movement. Male actors demonstrated such cooperative behavior only when performing the task together with an ingroup partner, while female actors demonstrated cooperative behavior irrespective of social categorization. These results suggest that actors tend to represent a partner's end-state comfort and integrate it into their own movement planning in cooperative joint action. However, social factors like group membership may modulate this tendency.
Previous studies have shown that brain activity between partners is synchronized during cooperative exchange. Whether this neural synchronization depends on the gender of partner (i.e., opposite or same to the participant) is open to be explored. In current study, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) based hyperscanning to study cooperation in a two-person game (female-female, female-male, and male-male) while assaying brain-to-brain interactions. Cooperation was greater in male-male pairs than in female-female pairs, with intermediate cooperation levels for female-male pairs. More importantly, in dyads with partners with opposite gender (female-male pairs), we found significant task-related cross-brain coherence in frontal regions (i.e., frontopolar cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) whereas the cooperation in same gender dyads (female-female pairs and male-male pairs) was not associated with such synchronization. Moreover, the changes of such interbrain coherence across task blocks were significantly correlated with change in degree of cooperation only in mixed-sex dyads. These findings suggested that different neural processes underlie cooperation between mixed-sex and same-sex dyadic interactions. Hum Brain Mapp, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
In the present research, we manipulated the perceived superior/inferior status during a competitive cognitive task. In two experiments, we created an explicit and strongly reinforced social hierarchy based on incidental rating on an attentional task. Based on our hypotheses, social rank may influence nonverbal cues (such as facial mimic related to emotional response), cortical lateralized activity in frontal areas (brain oscillations), and cognitive outcomes in response to rank modulation. Thus, the facial mimic (corrugators vs. zygomatic muscle activity), frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta), and real cognitive performance [(error rate (ER); response times (RTs)] were considered. Specifically, a peer-group comparison was enrolled and an improved (experiment 1, N = 29) or decreased (experiment 2, N = 31) performance was artificially manipulated by the experimenter. Results showed a significant improved cognitive performance (decreased ER and RTs), an increased zygomatic activity (positive emotions), and a more prefrontal left-lateralized cortical response in the case of a perceived increased social ranking. On the contrary, a significant decreased cognitive performance (increased ER and RTs), an increased corrugators activity (negative emotions), and a less left-lateralized cortical response were observed as a consequence of a perceived decreased social ranking. Moreover, the correlational values revealed a consistent trend between behavioral (RTs) and EMG and EEG measures for both experiments. The present results suggest that social status not only guides social behavior, but it also influences cognitive processes and subjects' performance.
The perception and interpretation of social hierarchies is a key part of our social life. In the present research we considered the activation of cortical areas, mainly the prefrontal cortex, related to social ranking perception in conjunction with some personality components (BAS - Behavioral Activation System - and BIS - Behavioral Inhibition System). In two experiments we manipulated the perceived superior/inferior status during a competitive cognitive task. Indeed, we created an explicit and strongly reinforced social hierarchy based on incidental rating in an attentional task. Specifically, a peer group comparison was undertaken and improved (Experiment 1) or decreased (Experiment 2) performance was artificially manipulated by the experimenter. For each experiment two groups were compared, based on a BAS and BIS dichotomy. Alpha band modulation in prefrontal cortex, behavioral measures (performance: error rate, ER; response times, RTs), and self-perceived ranking were considered. Repeated measures ANOVAs and regression analyses showed in Experiment 1 a significant improved cognitive performance (decreased ER and RTs) and higher self-perceived ranking in high-BAS participants. Moreover, their prefrontal activity was increased within the left side (alpha band decreasing). Conversely, in Experiment 2 a significant decreased cognitive performance (increased ER and RTs) and lower self-perceived ranking was observed in higher-BIS participants. Their prefrontal right activity was increased in comparison with higher BAS. The regression analyses confirmed the significant predictive role of alpha band modulation with respect of subjects' performance and self-perception of social ranking, differently for BAS/BIS components. The present results suggest that social status perception is directly modulated by cortical activity and personality correlates.
A diversity of methods have been used to study cerebral asymmetries associated with emotion. Many different conceptual schemes have also been invoked to guide research on this topic. The purpose of this article is to survey the critical methodological and conceptual issues in this area of research. Research in this area must acknowledge the multi-componential nature of emotion. Asymmetries associated with the perception of emotional information and the posing of emotional expressions are not necessarily the same as those that accompany the actual production of emotion. Asymmetries vary along the rostral/caudal plane both in their magnitude and direction, as well as in their functional significance. Research in this area must explicitly take this variable into account. Different measures of asymmetry do not reflect the same underlying process and so cannot be used interchangeably. In particular, behavioural measures which lack extensive localising validation, must be used with caution. Finally, the nature of the causal connection between alterations in asymmetric activation and emotion is not a simple one and extant data indicate that an asymmetric shift is not sufficient for the production of emotion. This fact has serious implications for the types of experimental designs that must be used to adequately test for relations between cerebral asymmetry and emotion. The article concludes with a discussion of some of the major outstanding questions that will occupy a central position in the future research agenda in this area.
This investigation tested the joint effect of achievement goals and ranking information on information exchange intentions with a commensurate exchange partner. Results showed that individuals with performance goals were less inclined to cooperate with an exchange partner when they had low or high ranks, relative to when they had intermediate ranks. In contrast, mastery goal individuals showed weaker cooperation intentions when their ranks were higher. Moreover, participants’ reciprocity orientation was found to mediate this interaction effect of achievement goals and ranking information. These findings suggest that mastery goals are more beneficial for exchange relationships than performance goals in terms of stronger reciprocity orientation and cooperation intentions, but only among low-ranked individuals.
The present study aimed to step into two-person neuroscience by investigating the hemodynamic correlates of between-brain connectivity during joint task performance. To test this approach, wireless functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to record brain signals during performance of a dual n-back task simultaneously in paired players as compared to single players. Evaluating functional connectivity between the paired players' brains using wavelet transform coherence (WTC) analysis revealed (1) a significant increase in between-brain coherence during joint task performance as compared to baseline condition. These patterns were observed in two frequency bands, i.e. in the heart rate (HR) frequency and in low-frequency oscillations (LFOs). (2) Averaged hemodynamic responses revealed larger responses in total hemoglobin concentration changes [tHb] for the paired players as compared to the single players; in addition, within the paired players groups joint task performance revealed larger changes in [tHb] as compared to a rest period and to a baseline condition. (3) No increase in behavioral performance was found in the paired players as compared to the single players. Our findings designate fNIRS as suitable tool for monitoring interpersonal performances between two subjects. The results show that two-person performance leads to relevant and significant effects, which are detectable using between-brain connectivity analysis. Using this approach can provide additional insight into interpersonal activation patterns not detectable using typical one-person experiments. Our study demonstrates the potential of simultaneously assessing cerebral hemodynamic responses for various two-person experimental paradigms and research areas where interpersonal performances are involved.
Mental representations of social status hierarchy share properties with that of numbers. Previous neuroimaging studies have shown that the neural representation of numerical magnitude lies within a network of regions within inferior parietal cortex. However the neural basis of social status hierarchy remains unknown. Using fMRI, we studied subjects while they compared social status magnitude of people, objects and symbols, as well as numerical magnitude. Both social status and number comparisons recruited bilateral intraparietal sulci. We also observed a semantic distance effect whereby neural activity within bilateral intraparietal sulci increased for semantically close relative to far numerical and social status comparisons. These results demonstrate that social status and number comparisons recruit distinct and overlapping neuronal representations within human inferior parietal cortex.
This study examined the effects on group performance and evaluation of three factors: intergroup competition or cooperation, intragroup competition or cooperation, and task means-interdependence. Intragroup cooperation was related positively to performance on a high means-interdependent task and was related negatively to performance on a low means-interdependent task. However, this relationship held only when there was intergroup cooperation rather than intergroup competition. These results were discussed in terms of their implications for the relative magnitude of the motives produced by the intragroup and intergroup reward structure. Evaluations of ingroup members were higher when there was intragroup cooperation than when there was intragroup competition. To foster ingroup liking, it was not necessary to introduce intergroup competition.
We used Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) to simultaneously measure brain activity in two people while they played a computer-based cooperation game side by side. Inter-brain activity coherence was calculated between the two participants. We found that the coherence between signals generated by participants' right superior frontal cortices increased during cooperation, but not during competition. Increased coherence was also associated with better cooperation performance. To our knowledge, this work represents the first use of a single NIRS instrument for simultaneous measurements of brain activity in two people. This study demonstrates the use of NIRS-based hyperscanning in studies of social interaction in a naturalistic environment.
The brain activity during cooperation as a form of social process is studied. We investigate the relationship between coinstantaneous brain-activation signals of multiple participants and their cooperative-task performance. A wearable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system is used for simultaneously measuring the brain activities of two participants. Each pair of participants perform a cooperative task, and their relative changes in cerebral blood are measured with the NIRS system. As for the task, the participants are told to count 10 s in their mind after an auditory cue and press a button. They are also told to adjust the timing of their button presses to make them as synchronized as possible. Certain information, namely, the "intertime interval" between the two button presses of each participant pair and which of the participants was the faster, is fed back to the participants by a beep sound after each trial. When the spatiotemporal covariance between the activation patterns of the prefrontal cortices of each participant is higher, the intertime interval between their button-press times was shorter. This result suggests that the synchronized activation patterns of the two participants' brains are associated with their performance when they interact in a cooperative task.
Asymmetry in comprehension of facial expression of emotions was explored in the present study by analysing alpha band variation within the right and left cortical sides. Second, the behavioural activation system (BAS) and behavioural inhibition system (BIS) were considered as an explicative factor to verify the effect of a motivational/emotional variable on alpha activity. A total of 19 participants looked at an ample range of facial expressions of emotions (anger, fear, surprise, disgust, happiness, sadness, and neutral) in random order. The results demonstrated that anterior frontal sites were more active than central and parietal sites in response to facial stimuli. Moreover, right and left side responses varied as a function of emotional types, with an increased right frontal activity for negative, aversive emotions vs an increased left response for positive emotion. Finally, whereas higher BIS participants generated more right hemisphere activation for some negative emotions (such as fear, anger, surprise, and disgust), BAS participants were more responsive to positive emotion (happiness) within the left hemisphere. Motivational significance of facial expressions was considered to elucidate cortical differences in participants' responses to emotional types.
A THEORY OF SELF-PERCEPTION IS PROPOSED TO PROVIDE AN ALTERNATIVE INTERPRETATION FOR SEVERAL OF THE MAJOR PHENOMENA EMBRACED BY FESTINGER'S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE AND TO EXPLICATE SOME OF THE SECONDARY PATTERNS OF DATA THAT HAVE APPEARED IN DISSONANCE EXPERIMENTS. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE ATTITUDE STATEMENTS WHICH COMPRISE THE MAJOR DEPENDENT VARIABLES IN DISSONANCE EXPERIMENTS MAY BE REGARDED AS INTERPERSONAL JUDGMENTS IN WHICH THE O AND THE OBSERVED HAPPEN TO BE THE SAME INDIVIDUAL AND THAT IT IS UNNECESSARY TO POSTULATE AN AVERSIVE MOTIVATIONAL DRIVE TOWARD CONSISTENCY TO ACCOUNT FOR THE ATTITUDE CHANGE PHENOMENA OBSERVED. SUPPORTING EXPERIMENTS ARE PRESENTED, AND METATHEORETICAL CONTRASTS BETWEEN THE "RADICAL" BEHAVIORAL APPROACH UTILIZED AND THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH TYPIFIED BY DISSONANCE THEORY ARE DISCUSSED. (2 P. REF.)
Previous research has shown that observing others' actions can affect individual performance of the same actions. In the present study, we developed a new paradigm to investigate whether and how complementary actions at the disposal of another agent are represented and influence one's own actions. A spatial compatibility task was distributed among two people so that each participant took care of one of two responses. The identical task was performed alone and alongside another participant. There was a spatial compatibility effect in the group setting only. It was similar to the effect obtained when one person took care of both responses. This result suggests that one's own actions and others' actions are represented in a functionally equivalent way.
Aging reduces cerebral blood flow in association cortices during rest. However, the influence of age on functional brain activation is still controversial. The aim of our study was to examine age dependency of brain activation in primary and association cortices. Therefore, changes in the concentration of oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin as well as changes in the redox state of cytochrome-c-oxidase (Cyt-Ox) were measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in the lateral prefrontal and motor cortices during an event-related Stroop interference task. Fourteen young (23.9 +/- 3.1 years old) and 14 elderly subjects (65.1 +/- 3.1) participated in the study. Data revealed two effects of aging on brain activation: (1) Elderly and young subjects used the lateral prefrontal cortex to cope with interference during the Stroop task. In young subjects, the vascular response was higher during incongruent than neutral trials in the entire examined lateral prefrontal cortex. However, in the elderly, all lateral prefrontal regions showed a hemodynamic response but not necessarily a specific interference effect. (2) The hemodynamic response was reduced in elderly subjects in the lateral prefrontal association cortex, but obviously not in the motor cortex. We propose that calculating effect sizes is the only reliable approach to analyze age-related effects in fNIRS studies, because they are independent from the assumed differential pathlength factor. In summary, our findings suggest that aging decreases the hemodynamic response in the frontal association cortex during functional activation, omitting the primary motor cortex.
Despite the vast literature that has implicated asymmetric activation of the prefrontal cortex in approach-withdrawal motivation and emotion, no published reports have directly explored the neural correlates of well-being. Eighty-four right-handed adults (ages 57-60) completed self-report measures of eudaimonic well-being, hedonic well-being, and positive affect prior to resting electroencephalography. As hypothesized, greater left than right superior frontal activation was associated with higher levels of both forms of well-being. Hemisphere-specific analyses documented the importance of goal-directed approach tendencies beyond those captured by approach-related positive affect for eudaimonic but not for hedonic well-being. Appropriately engaging sources of appetitive motivation, characteristic of higher left than right baseline levels of prefrontal activation, may encourage the experience of well-being.
Cooperation and competition are two basic modes of social cognition that necessitate monitoring of both one's own and others' actions, as well as adopting a specific mental set. In this fMRI, study individuals played a specially designed computer game, according to a set of predefined rules, either in cooperation with or in competition against another person. The hemodynamic response during these conditions was contrasted to that of the same subjects playing the game independently. Both cooperation and competition stances resulted in activation of a common frontoparietal network subserving executive functions, as well as the anterior insula, involved in autonomic arousal. Moreover, distinct regions were found to be selectively associated with cooperation and competition, notably the orbitofrontal cortex in the former and the inferior parietal and medial prefrontal cortices in the latter. This pattern reflects the different mental frameworks implicated in being cooperative versus competitive with another person. In accordance with evidence from evolutionary psychology as well as from developmental psychology, we argue that cooperation is a socially rewarding process and is associated with specific left medial orbitofrontal cortex involvement.
Traditional neuroimaging studies have mainly focused on brain activity derived from a simple stimulus and task. Therefore, little is known about brain activity during daily operations. In this study, we investigated hemodynamic changes in the dorsal prefrontal cortex (DPFC) during video games as one of daily amusements, using near infrared spectroscopy technique. It was previously reported that oxygenated hemoglobin (oxyHb) in adults' DPFC decreased during prolonged game playing time. In the present study, we examined whether similar changes were observed in children. Twenty children (7-14 years old) participated in our study, but only 13 of them were eventually subject to analysis. They played one or two commercially available video games; namely a fighting and a puzzle game, for 5 min. We used changes in concentration of oxyHb as an indicator of brain activity and consequently, most of the children exhibited a sustained game-related oxyHb decrease in DPFC. Decrease patterns of oxyHb in children during video game playing time did not differ from those in adults. There was no significant correlation between ages or game performances and changes in oxyHb. These findings suggest that game-related oxyHb decrease in DPFC is a common phenomenon to adults and children at least older than 7 years old, and we suggest that this probably results from attention demand from the video games rather than from subject's age and performance.
Whether human infants perceive televised stimuli in the same way to live stimuli largely remains unknown. Action observation, which has been extensively confirmed to elicit activation of internal motor representation, provides a promising framework for investigating this issue. This 'mirror-matching' property has been found in the monkey premotor cortex as well as the premotor and primary motor cortices in human adults. Although larger activation in observing a live action compared to a televised action in adult subjects has been reported, it is unknown whether the same neural response is obtained from human infants. To address this issue, we first measured the activity of motor areas in adult subjects while viewing either a live or televised action of other people by using near-infrared spectroscopy. The motor areas that were activated when the subject themselves performed an action were also activated during action observation in the live setting, while this was not evident in the TV setting. We then conducted qualitatively the same experiment with 6- to 7-month-old infants. The infant's motor areas were significantly activated when observing a live person performing an action. Although we also found activation in the same area during action observation in the TV setting, the difference in activity between action observation and object-motion observation was significant only in the live setting. Our results are the first to demonstrate activation in motor areas during action observation in human infants. We suggest that human brain responds differently to the real world and the virtual world.
Social hierarchies guide behavior in many species, including humans, where status also has an enormous impact on motivation and health. However, little is known about the underlying neural representation of social hierarchies in humans. In the present study, we identify dissociable neural responses to perceived social rank using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in an interactive, simulated social context. In both stable and unstable social hierarchies, viewing a superior individual differentially engaged perceptual-attentional, saliency, and cognitive systems, notably dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. In the unstable hierarchy setting, additional regions related to emotional processing (amygdala), social cognition (medial prefrontal cortex), and behavioral readiness were recruited. Furthermore, social hierarchical consequences of performance were neurally dissociable and of comparable salience to monetary reward, providing a neural basis for the high motivational value of status. Our results identify neural mechanisms that may mediate the enormous influence of social status on human behavior and health.
Status hierarchies constitute a fundamental organizing principle of human society. However, little is known about the neural systems that process nonverbal cues that indicate status. Preliminary neuropsychological work has suggested a role for the ventrolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VLPFC/VMPFC) and the superior temporal cortex (STC). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to delineate the nature of these roles. Analyses revealed signal changes in the right VLPFC in connection with two primary functions attributed to status cues. Status cues moderate behavior and the right VLPFC showed increased signal for high-status relative to neutral and low-status cues. The VLPFC also showed increased signal for high-status cues displayed by individuals of the opposite gender to the perceiver; this may be relevant to the role status cues play in moderating mate choice behavior. Connectivity results indicated significant positive connectivity between the VLPFC and both the VMPFC and the STC. We suggest that the VLPFC retrieves information from these regions when processing hierarchy cues to facilitate socially adaptive behavior.
Toward a unified theory of similarity and recognition
- F G Ashby
- N A Perrin
Ashby, F. G., & Perrin, N. A. (1988). Toward a unified
theory of similarity and recognition. Psychological
Review,
95(1),
124-150.
doi:10.1037/0033295X.95.1.124