1
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Andersen EH, Nagpal A, Eisenlohr-Moul TA, Gordon JL. A novel method for quantifying affective sensitivity to endogenous ovarian hormones. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2024; 167:107095. [PMID: 38896987 DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2024] [Revised: 04/30/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
Increased sensitivity to ovarian hormone changes is implicated in the etiology of reproductive mood disorders across the female lifespan, including menstrually-related mood disorders, perinatal mood disorders, and perimenopausal depression. Developing a method to accurately quantify sensitivity to endogenous hormone fluctuations may therefore facilitate the prediction and prevention of these mental health conditions. Here, we propose one such method applying a synchrony analysis to compute time-lagged cross-correlations between repeated assessments of endogenous hormone levels and self-reported affect. We apply this method to a dataset containing frequent repeated assessments of affective symptoms and the urinary metabolites of estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P4) in 94 perimenopausal females. These preliminary findings suggest that, with further refinement and validation, the proposed method holds promise as a diagnostic tool to be used in clinical practice and to advance research investigating the etiology of reproductive mood disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth H Andersen
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Anisha Nagpal
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | | | - Jennifer L Gordon
- Department of Psychology, University of Regina, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.
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2
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Zhou X, Wong PCM. Hyperscanning to explore social interaction among autistic minds. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 163:105773. [PMID: 38889594 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2024] [Revised: 06/05/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/20/2024]
Abstract
Hyperscanning - the monitoring of brain activity of two or more people simultaneously - has emerged to be a popular tool for assessing neural features of social interaction. This perspective article focuses on hyperscanning studies that use functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), a technique that is very conducive to studies requiring naturalistic paradigms. In particular, we are interested in neural features that are related to social interaction deficits among individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This population has received relatively little attention in research using neuroimaging hyperscanning techniques, compared to neurotypical individuals. The study is outlined as follows. First, we summarize the findings about brain-behavior connections related to autism from previously published fNIRS hyperscanning studies. Then, we propose a preliminary theoretical framework of inter-brain coherence (IBC) with testable hypotheses concerning this population. Finally, we provide two examples of areas of inquiry in which studies could be particularly relevant for social-emotional/behavioral development for autistic children, focusing on intergenerational relationships in family units and learning in classroom settings in mainstream schools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Zhou
- Brain and Mind Institute, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China.
| | - Patrick C M Wong
- Brain and Mind Institute, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China; Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
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3
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Carollo A, Esposito G. Hyperscanning literature after two decades of neuroscientific research: A scientometric review. Neuroscience 2024; 551:345-354. [PMID: 38866073 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2024.05.045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2024] [Revised: 05/24/2024] [Accepted: 05/30/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
Hyperscanning, a neuroimaging approach introduced in 2002 for simultaneously recording the brain activity of multiple participants, has significantly contributed to our understanding of social interactions. Nevertheless, the existing literature requires systematic organization to advance our knowledge. This study, after two decades of hyperscanning research, aims to identify the primary thematic domains and the most influential documents in the field. We conducted a scientometric analysis to examine co-citation patterns quantitatively, using a sample of 548 documents retrieved from Scopus and their 32,022 cited references. Our analysis revealed ten major thematic domains in hyperscanning research, with the most impactful document authored by Czeszumski and colleagues in 2020. Notably, while hyperscanning was initially developed for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), our findings indicate a substantial influence of research conducted using electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). The introduction of fNIRS and advancements in EEG methods have enabled the implementation of more ecologically valid experiments for investigating social interactions. The study also highlights the need for more research that combines multi-brain neural stimulation with neuroimaging techniques to understand the causal role played by interpersonal neural synchrony in social interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Carollo
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.
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4
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Li Y, Halleck TQ, Evans L, Bassuk PB, de la Paz L, Demir-Lira ÖE. Eye of the beholder: Neural synchrony of dynamically changing relations between parent praise and child affect. Dev Sci 2024:e13541. [PMID: 38958643 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13541] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Revised: 05/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/01/2024] [Indexed: 07/04/2024]
Abstract
In this study, we aimed to determine the role of parental praise and child affect in the neural processes underlying parent-child interactions, utilizing functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning. We characterized the dynamic changes in interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) between parents and children (4-6 years old, n = 40 dyads) during a cognitively challenging task. We then examined how changes in parent-child INS are influenced by parental feedback and child affect. Parent-child INS showed a quadratic change over time, indicating a decelerated decline during the interaction period. The relationship of parental praise, in the form of positive feedback, to change in INS was contingent upon the child's positive affect during the task. The highest levels of INS were observed when praise was present and child affect was positive. The left temporo-parietal regions of the child and the right dorsolateral prefrontal and right temporo-parietal regions of the parent demonstrated the strongest INS. The dynamic change in INS during the interaction was associated with children's independent performance on a standardized test of visuospatial processing. This research, leveraging fNIRS hyperscanning, elucidates the neural dynamics underlying the interaction between parent praise and child positive affect, thereby contributing to our broader understanding of parent-child dynamics. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: The level of interpersonal neural synchrony between parents and children dynamically varies during a cognitively challenging (tangram) task. The left temporo-parietal regions of the child and the right dorsolateral prefrontal and right temporo-parietal regions of the parent demonstrate the strongest parent-child neural synchrony. The relationship between parental praise (positive feedback) and parent-child neural synchrony is contingent upon child positive affect during the task. Change in parent-child neural synchrony relates to children's performance on an independent visuospatial processing measure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Li
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Talia Q Halleck
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Laura Evans
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Paras Bhagwat Bassuk
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Leiana de la Paz
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Ö Ece Demir-Lira
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Department of Pediatrics, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
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5
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Liu D, Jamshaid S, Wang L. Neural Mechanisms of Inhibition in Scientific Reasoning: Insights from fNIRS. Brain Sci 2024; 14:606. [PMID: 38928606 PMCID: PMC11202143 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci14060606] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2024] [Revised: 06/13/2024] [Accepted: 06/13/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024] Open
Abstract
This study examines the impact of response and semantic inhibition on scientific reasoning using fNIRS data from 30 students (15 male, 15 female). Utilizing Go/Nogo and Stroop-like tasks within a modified speeded-reasoning task, it was found that inhibition significantly influences scientific reasoning. Specifically, slower responses and lower accuracy on incongruent statements were linked to increased activity in bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA). The research shows that both DLPFC and pre-SMA are associated with overcoming misconceptions in scientific reasoning. The findings suggest that understanding inhibitory mechanisms can enhance educational strategies to improve critical thinking and scientific literacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Donglin Liu
- School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China; (D.L.); (S.J.)
- School of Psychology, Hainan Normal University, Haikou 571158, China
| | - Samrah Jamshaid
- School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China; (D.L.); (S.J.)
| | - Lijuan Wang
- School of Psychology, Northeast Normal University, Changchun 130024, China; (D.L.); (S.J.)
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6
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Marriot Haresign I, A M Phillips E, V Wass S. Why behaviour matters: Studying inter-brain coordination during child-caregiver interaction. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 67:101384. [PMID: 38657470 PMCID: PMC11059326 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2024.101384] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Revised: 03/26/2024] [Accepted: 04/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/26/2024] Open
Abstract
Modern technology allows for simultaneous neuroimaging from interacting caregiver-child dyads. Whereas most analyses that examine the coordination between brain regions within an individual brain do so by measuring changes relative to observed events, studies that examine coordination between two interacting brains generally do this by measuring average intra-brain coordination across entire blocks or experimental conditions. In other words, they do not examine changes in inter-brain coordination relative to individual behavioural events. Here, we discuss the limitations of this approach. First, we present data suggesting that fine-grained temporal interdependencies in behaviour can leave residual artifact in neuroimaging data. We show how artifact can manifest as both power and (through that) phase synchrony effects in EEG and affect wavelet transform coherence in fNIRS analyses. Second, we discuss different possible mechanistic explanations of how inter-brain coordination is established and maintained. We argue that non-event-locked approaches struggle to differentiate between them. Instead, we contend that approaches which examine how interpersonal dynamics change around behavioural events have better potential for addressing possible artifactual confounds and for teasing apart the overlapping mechanisms that drive changes in inter-brain coordination.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Sam V Wass
- Department of Psychology, University of East London, London, UK
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7
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Zhang M, Yin Z, Zhang X, Zhang H, Bao M, Xuan B. Neural mechanisms distinguishing two types of cooperative problem-solving approaches: An fNIRS hyperscanning study. Neuroimage 2024; 291:120587. [PMID: 38548038 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2024.120587] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Collaborative cooperation (CC) and division of labor cooperation (DLC) are two prevalent forms of cooperative problem-solving approaches in daily life. Despite extensive research on the neural mechanisms underlying cooperative problem-solving approaches, a notable gap exists between the neural processes that support CC and DLC. The present study utilized a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning technique along with a classic cooperative tangram puzzle task to investigate the neural mechanisms engaged by both friends and stranger dyads during CC versus DLC. The key findings of this study were as follows: (1) Dyads exhibited superior behavioral performance in the DLC task than in the CC task. The CC task bolstered intra-brain functional connectivity and inter-brain synchrony (IBS) in regions linked to the mirror neuron system (MNS), spatial perception (SP) and cognitive control. (2) Friend dyads showed stronger IBS in brain regions associated with the MNS than stranger dyads. (3) Perspective-taking predicted not only dyads' behavioral performance in the CC task but also their IBS in brain regions associated with SP during the DLC task. Taken together, these findings elucidate the divergent behavioral performance and neural connection patterns between the two cooperative problem-solving approaches. This study provides novel insights into the various neurocognitive processes underlying flexible coordination strategies in real-world cooperative contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mingming Zhang
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, 100, Guilin Road, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Zijun Yin
- School of Educational Science, Anhui Normal University, 2, Beijing Middle Road, Wuhu 241000, China
| | - Xue Zhang
- School of Educational Science, Anhui Normal University, 2, Beijing Middle Road, Wuhu 241000, China
| | - Hui Zhang
- School of Educational Science, Anhui Normal University, 2, Beijing Middle Road, Wuhu 241000, China
| | - Mingjing Bao
- School of Educational Science, Anhui Normal University, 2, Beijing Middle Road, Wuhu 241000, China
| | - Bin Xuan
- School of Educational Science, Anhui Normal University, 2, Beijing Middle Road, Wuhu 241000, China.
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8
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Li Y, Wu S, Xu J, Wang H, Zhu Q, Shi W, Fang Y, Jiang F, Tong S, Zhang Y, Guo X. Interbrain substrates of role switching during mother-child interaction. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26672. [PMID: 38549429 PMCID: PMC10979116 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26672] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2022] [Revised: 02/23/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 04/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Mother-child interaction is highly dynamic and reciprocal. Switching roles in these back-and-forth interactions serves as a crucial feature of reciprocal behaviors while the underlying neural entrainment is still not well-studied. Here, we designed a role-controlled cooperative task with dual EEG recording to explore how differently two brains interact when mothers and children hold different roles. When children were actors and mothers were observers, mother-child interbrain synchrony emerged primarily within the theta oscillations and the frontal lobe, which highly correlated with children's attachment to their mothers (self-reported by mothers). When their roles were reversed, this synchrony was shifted to the alpha oscillations and the central area and associated with mothers' perception of their relationship with their children. The results suggested an observer-actor neural alignment within the actor's oscillations, which was related to the actor-toward-observer emotional bonding. Our findings contribute to the understanding of how interbrain synchrony is established and dynamically changed during mother-child reciprocal interaction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yamin Li
- School of Biomedical EngineeringShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
- Department of Computer ScienceVanderbilt UniversityNashvilleTennesseeUSA
| | - Saishuang Wu
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral PediatricsNational Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Affiliated to School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Jiayang Xu
- School of Biomedical EngineeringShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Haiwa Wang
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral PediatricsNational Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Affiliated to School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Qi Zhu
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral PediatricsNational Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Affiliated to School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Wen Shi
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringJohns Hopkins University School of MedicineBaltimoreMarylandUSA
| | - Yue Fang
- China Welfare Institute NurseryShanghaiChina
| | - Fan Jiang
- Department of Developmental and Behavioral PediatricsNational Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Affiliated to School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Shanbao Tong
- School of Biomedical EngineeringShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Yunting Zhang
- Child Health Advocacy InstituteNational Children's Medical Center, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Affiliated to School of Medicine Shanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
| | - Xiaoli Guo
- School of Biomedical EngineeringShanghai Jiao Tong UniversityShanghaiChina
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9
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Nguyen T, Kungl MT, Hoehl S, White LO, Vrtička P. Visualizing the invisible tie: Linking parent-child neural synchrony to parents' and children's attachment representations. Dev Sci 2024:e13504. [PMID: 38523055 DOI: 10.1111/desc.13504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 03/01/2024] [Indexed: 03/26/2024]
Abstract
It is a central tenet of attachment theory that individual differences in attachment representations organize behavior during social interactions. Secure attachment representations also facilitate behavioral synchrony, a key component of adaptive parent-child interactions. Yet, the dynamic neural processes underlying these interactions and the potential role of attachment representations remain largely unknown. A growing body of research indicates that interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) could be a potential neurobiological correlate of high interaction and relationship quality. In this study, we examined whether interpersonal neural and behavioral synchrony during parent-child interaction is associated with parent and child attachment representations. In total, 140 parents (74 mothers and 66 fathers) and their children (age 5-6 years; 60 girls and 80 boys) engaged in cooperative versus individual problem-solving. INS in frontal and temporal regions was assessed with functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning. Attachment representations were ascertained by means of the Adult Attachment Interview in parents and a story-completion task in children, alongside video-coded behavioral synchrony. Findings revealed increased INS during cooperative versus individual problem solving across all dyads (𝛸2(2) = 9.37, p = 0.009). Remarkably, individual differences in attachment representations were associated with INS but not behavioral synchrony (p > 0.159) during cooperation. More specifically, insecure maternal attachment representations were related to higher mother-child INS in frontal regions (𝛸2(3) = 9.18, p = 0.027). Conversely, secure daughter attachment representations were related to higher daughter-parent INS within temporal regions (𝛸2(3) = 12.58, p = 0.006). Our data thus provide further indication for INS as a promising correlate to probe the neurobiological underpinnings of attachment representations in the context of early parent-child interactions. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We assessed attachment representations using narrative measures and interpersonal neural synchrony (INS) during parent-child problem-solving. Dyads including mothers with insecure attachment representations showed higher INS in left prefrontal regions. Dyads including daughters with secure attachment representations showed higher INS in right temporo-parietal regions. INS is a promising correlate to probe the neurobiological underpinnings of attachment representations in the context of parent-child interactions, especially within the mutual prediction framework.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trinh Nguyen
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Neuroscience of Perception and Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Rome, Italy
| | - Melanie T Kungl
- Department of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - Stefanie Hoehl
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Lars O White
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
- Clinical Psychology, Psychological University Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Pascal Vrtička
- Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
- Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
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10
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Konrad K, Gerloff C, Kohl SH, Mehler DMA, Mehlem L, Volbert EL, Komorek M, Henn AT, Boecker M, Weiss E, Reindl V. Interpersonal neural synchrony and mental disorders: unlocking potential pathways for clinical interventions. Front Neurosci 2024; 18:1286130. [PMID: 38529267 PMCID: PMC10962391 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1286130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Interpersonal synchronization involves the alignment of behavioral, affective, physiological, and brain states during social interactions. It facilitates empathy, emotion regulation, and prosocial commitment. Mental disorders characterized by social interaction dysfunction, such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), and Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), often exhibit atypical synchronization with others across multiple levels. With the introduction of the "second-person" neuroscience perspective, our understanding of interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) has improved, however, so far, it has hardly impacted the development of novel therapeutic interventions. Methods To evaluate the potential of INS-based treatments for mental disorders, we performed two systematic literature searches identifying studies that directly target INS through neurofeedback (12 publications; 9 independent studies) or brain stimulation techniques (7 studies), following PRISMA guidelines. In addition, we narratively review indirect INS manipulations through behavioral, biofeedback, or hormonal interventions. We discuss the potential of such treatments for ASD, RAD, and SAD and using a systematic database search assess the acceptability of neurofeedback (4 studies) and neurostimulation (4 studies) in patients with social dysfunction. Results Although behavioral approaches, such as engaging in eye contact or cooperative actions, have been shown to be associated with increased INS, little is known about potential long-term consequences of such interventions. Few proof-of-concept studies have utilized brain stimulation techniques, like transcranial direct current stimulation or INS-based neurofeedback, showing feasibility and preliminary evidence that such interventions can boost behavioral synchrony and social connectedness. Yet, optimal brain stimulation protocols and neurofeedback parameters are still undefined. For ASD, RAD, or SAD, so far no randomized controlled trial has proven the efficacy of direct INS-based intervention techniques, although in general brain stimulation and neurofeedback methods seem to be well accepted in these patient groups. Discussion Significant work remains to translate INS-based manipulations into effective treatments for social interaction disorders. Future research should focus on mechanistic insights into INS, technological advancements, and rigorous design standards. Furthermore, it will be key to compare interventions directly targeting INS to those targeting other modalities of synchrony as well as to define optimal target dyads and target synchrony states in clinical interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kerstin Konrad
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
- JARA Brain Institute II, Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (INM-11), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - Christian Gerloff
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
- JARA Brain Institute II, Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (INM-11), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
- Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Cambridge Centre for Data-Driven Discovery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Simon H. Kohl
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
- JARA Brain Institute II, Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroimaging (INM-11), Jülich Research Centre, Jülich, Germany
| | - David M. A. Mehler
- Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Medical School, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany
- Institute for Translational Psychiatry, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
- School of Psychology, Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Center (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | - Lena Mehlem
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
| | - Emily L. Volbert
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
| | - Maike Komorek
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
| | - Alina T. Henn
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
| | - Maren Boecker
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
| | - Eileen Weiss
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
- Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
| | - Vanessa Reindl
- Child Neuropsychology Section, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, University Hospital RWTH, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
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11
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Hutton JS, Piotrowski JT, Bagot K, Blumberg F, Canli T, Chein J, Christakis DA, Grafman J, Griffin JA, Hummer T, Kuss DJ, Lerner M, Marcovitch S, Paulus MP, Perlman G, Romeo R, Thomason ME, Turel O, Weinstein A, West G, Pietra PHD, Potenza MN. Digital Media and Developing Brains: Concerns and Opportunities. CURRENT ADDICTION REPORTS 2024; 11:287-298. [PMID: 38606363 PMCID: PMC11003891 DOI: 10.1007/s40429-024-00545-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024]
Abstract
Purpose of Review The incorporation of digital technologies and their use in youth's everyday lives has been increasing rapidly over the past several decades with possible impacts on youth development and mental health. This narrative review aimed to consider how the use of digital technologies may be influencing brain development underlying adaptive and maladaptive screen-related behaviors. Recent Findings To explore and provide direction for further scientific inquiry, an international group of experts considered what is known, important gaps in knowledge, and how a research agenda might be pursued regarding relationships between screen media activity and neurodevelopment from infancy through childhood and adolescence. While an understanding of brain-behavior relationships involving screen media activity has been emerging, significant gaps exist that have important implications for the health of developing youth. Summary Specific considerations regarding brain-behavior relationships involving screen media activity exist for infancy, toddlerhood, and early childhood; middle childhood; and adolescence. Transdiagnostic frameworks may provide a foundation for guiding future research efforts. Translating knowledge gained into better interventions and policy to promote healthy development is important in a rapidly changing digital technology environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- John S. Hutton
- Division of General and Community Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH, USA and Division of General and Community Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX USA
| | | | - Kara Bagot
- Departments of Psychiatry & Pediatrics, Addiction Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY USA
| | - Fran Blumberg
- Division of Psychological and Educational Services, Fordham University, New York, NY USA
| | - Turhan Canli
- Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY USA
| | - Jason Chein
- Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA USA
| | - Dimitri A. Christakis
- Center for Child Health Behaviour and Development, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Departments of Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA USA
| | - Jordan Grafman
- The Shirley Ryan AbilityLab & Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL USA
| | - James A. Griffin
- The National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, USA
| | - Tom Hummer
- Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN USA
| | - Daria J. Kuss
- International Gaming Research Unit and Cyberpsychology Group, NTU Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK
| | - Matthew Lerner
- Departments of Psychology, Psychiatry & Pediatrics, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA and AJ Drexel Autism Institute, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA USA
| | - Stuart Marcovitch
- Department Of Psychology, University of North Carolina Greensboro, Greensboro, NC USA
| | | | - Greg Perlman
- Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony, Brook University, Stony Brook, NY USA
| | - Rachel Romeo
- Departments of Human Development & Quantitative Methodology, Hearing & Speech Sciences, and Neuroscience & Cognitive Sciences, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD USA
| | - Moriah E. Thomason
- Departments of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Population Health, New York University, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY USA
| | - Ofir Turel
- College of Business and Economics, California State University, Fullerton, CA USA
- Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Aviv Weinstein
- The Isadore and Ruth Kastin Chair for Brain Research, Department of Psychology and Behavioral Science, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel
| | - Gregory West
- Department of Psychology, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Pamela Hurst-Della Pietra
- Children and Screens: Institute of Digital Media and Child Development, Jericho, NY USA
- Department of Family, Population and Preventive Medicine, Stony Brook Medicine, Stony Brook, NY USA
| | - Marc N. Potenza
- Departments of Psychiatry, Child Study and Neuroscience, Connecticut Mental Health Center, Yale School of Medicine, Wu Tsai Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06517 USA
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12
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Papoutselou E, Harrison S, Mai G, Buck B, Patil N, Wiggins I, Hartley D. Investigating mother-child inter-brain synchrony in a naturalistic paradigm: A functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning study. Eur J Neurosci 2024; 59:1386-1403. [PMID: 38155106 DOI: 10.1111/ejn.16233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2022] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Successful social interactions between mothers and children are hypothesised to play a significant role in a child's social, cognitive and language development. Earlier research has confirmed, through structured experimental paradigms, that these interactions could be underpinned by coordinated neural activity. Nevertheless, the extent of neural synchrony during real-life, ecologically valid interactions between mothers and their children remains largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated mother-child inter-brain synchrony using a naturalistic free-play paradigm. We also examined the relationship between neural synchrony, verbal communication patterns and personality traits to further understand the underpinnings of brain synchrony. Twelve children aged between 3 and 5 years old and their mothers participated in this study. Neural synchrony in mother-child dyads were measured bilaterally over frontal and temporal areas using functional Near Infra-red Spectroscopy (fNIRS) whilst the dyads were asked to play with child-friendly toys together (interactive condition) and separately (independent condition). Communication patterns were captured via video recordings and conversational turns were coded. Compared to the independent condition, mother-child dyads showed increased neural synchrony in the interactive condition across the prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal junction. There was no significant relationship found between neural synchrony and turn-taking and between neural synchrony and the personality traits of each member of the dyad. Overall, we demonstrate the feasibility of measuring inter-brain synchrony between mothers and children in a naturalistic environment. These findings can inform future study designs to assess inter-brain synchrony between parents and pre-lingual children and/or children with communication needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Efstratia Papoutselou
- Hearing Sciences, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Nottingham, UK
| | - Samantha Harrison
- Hearing Sciences, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Nottingham, UK
| | - Guangting Mai
- Hearing Sciences, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Nottingham, UK
| | - Bryony Buck
- Hearing Sciences - Scottish Section, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Nikita Patil
- Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Nottingham, UK
- School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
| | - Ian Wiggins
- Hearing Sciences, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Nottingham, UK
| | - Douglas Hartley
- Hearing Sciences, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, School of Medicine, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK
- Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Nottingham, UK
- Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK
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13
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Zhao Q, Zhao W, Lu C, Du H, Chi P. Interpersonal neural synchronization during social interactions in close relationships: A systematic review and meta-analysis of fNIRS hyperscanning studies. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2024; 158:105565. [PMID: 38295965 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Revised: 01/21/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
In recent years, researchers have used hyperscanning techniques to explore how brains interact during various human activities. These studies have revealed a phenomenon called interpersonal neural synchronization (INS), but little research has focused on the overall effect of INS in close relationships. To address this gap, this study aims to synthesize and analyze the existing literature on INS during social interactions in close relationships. We conducted a meta-analysis of 17 functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning studies involving 1149 dyads participants, including romantic couples and parent-child dyads. The results revealed robust and consistent INS in the frontal, temporal, and parietal regions of the brain and found similar INS patterns in couples and parent-child studies, providing solid empirical evidence for the attachment theory. Moreover, the age of children and brain areas were significant predictors of the effect size in parent-child research. The developmental stage of children and the mismatched development of brain structures might be the crucial factors for the difference in neural performance in social and cognitive behaviors in parent-child dyads.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Zhao
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macau 999078, Macau Special Administrative Region of China; Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau 999078, Macau Special Administrative Region of China
| | - Wan Zhao
- School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210097, Jiangsu, China
| | - Chunming Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Hongfei Du
- Department of Psychology, Beijing Normal University at Zhuhai, Zhuhai 519087, Guangdong, China; Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education (Beijing Normal University), Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, China.
| | - Peilian Chi
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Macau, Macau 999078, Macau Special Administrative Region of China; Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau 999078, Macau Special Administrative Region of China.
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14
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Vanoncini M, Hoehl S, Elsner B, Wallot S, Boll-Avetisyan N, Kayhan E. Mother-infant social gaze dynamics relate to infant brain activity and word segmentation. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2024; 65:101331. [PMID: 38113766 PMCID: PMC10770595 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2023] [Revised: 11/24/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The 'social brain', consisting of areas sensitive to social information, supposedly gates the mechanisms involved in human language learning. Early preverbal interactions are guided by ostensive signals, such as gaze patterns, which are coordinated across body, brain, and environment. However, little is known about how the infant brain processes social gaze in naturalistic interactions and how this relates to infant language development. During free-play of 9-month-olds with their mothers, we recorded hemodynamic cortical activity of ´social brain` areas (prefrontal cortex, temporo-parietal junctions) via fNIRS, and micro-coded mother's and infant's social gaze. Infants' speech processing was assessed with a word segmentation task. Using joint recurrence quantification analysis, we examined the connection between infants' ´social brain` activity and the temporal dynamics of social gaze at intrapersonal (i.e., infant's coordination, maternal coordination) and interpersonal (i.e., dyadic coupling) levels. Regression modeling revealed that intrapersonal dynamics in maternal social gaze (but not infant's coordination or dyadic coupling) coordinated significantly with infant's cortical activity. Moreover, recurrence quantification analysis revealed that intrapersonal maternal social gaze dynamics (in terms of entropy) were the best predictor of infants' word segmentation. The findings support the importance of social interaction in language development, particularly highlighting maternal social gaze dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Vanoncini
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany; Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany; Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria; Research Focus Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Germany.
| | - Stefanie Hoehl
- Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Birgit Elsner
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany; Research Focus Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Germany
| | - Sebastian Wallot
- Institute for Sustainability Education and Psychology (ISEP), Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, 21335, Lüneburg, Germany
| | - Natalie Boll-Avetisyan
- Department of Linguistics, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany; Research Focus Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Germany
| | - Ezgi Kayhan
- Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam, Germany; Research Focus Cognitive Sciences, University of Potsdam, Germany; Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Stephanstraße 1a, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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15
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Schwartz L, Levy J, Hayut O, Netzer O, Endevelt-Shapira Y, Feldman R. Generation WhatsApp: inter-brain synchrony during face-to-face and texting communication. Sci Rep 2024; 14:2672. [PMID: 38302582 PMCID: PMC10834538 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-52587-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2024] [Indexed: 02/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Texting has become one of the most prevalent ways to interact socially, particularly among youth; however, the effects of text messaging on social brain functioning are unknown. Guided by the biobehavioral synchrony frame, this pre-registered study utilized hyperscanning EEG to evaluate interbrain synchrony during face-to-face versus texting interactions. Participants included 65 mother-adolescent dyads observed during face-to-face conversation compared to texting from different rooms. Results indicate that both face-to-face and texting communication elicit significant neural synchrony compared to surrogate data, demonstrating for the first time brain-to-brain synchrony during texting. Direct comparison between the two interactions highlighted 8 fronto-temporal interbrain links that were significantly stronger in the face-to-face interaction compared to texting. Our findings suggest that partners co-create a fronto-temporal network of inter-brain connections during live social exchanges. The degree of improvement in the partners' right-frontal-right-frontal connectivity from texting to the live social interaction correlated with greater behavioral synchrony, suggesting that this well-researched neural connection may be specific to face-to-face communication. Our findings suggest that while technology-based communication allows humans to synchronize from afar, face-to-face interactions remain the superior mode of communication for interpersonal connection. We conclude by discussing the potential benefits and drawbacks of the pervasive use of texting, particularly among youth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linoy Schwartz
- Center for Developmental, Social, and Relationship Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Jonathan Levy
- Center for Developmental, Social, and Relationship Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
- Department of Criminology and Gonda Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel
| | - Olga Hayut
- Center for Developmental, Social, and Relationship Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Ofir Netzer
- Center for Developmental, Social, and Relationship Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Yaara Endevelt-Shapira
- Center for Developmental, Social, and Relationship Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Ruth Feldman
- Center for Developmental, Social, and Relationship Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel.
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, USA.
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16
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Liu S, Han ZR, Xu J, Wang Q, Gao MM, Weng X, Qin S, Rubin KH. Parenting links to parent-child interbrain synchrony: a real-time fNIRS hyperscanning study. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad533. [PMID: 38220574 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Revised: 12/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/20/2023] [Indexed: 01/16/2024] Open
Abstract
Parent-child interaction is crucial for children's cognitive and affective development. While bio-synchrony models propose that parenting influences interbrain synchrony during interpersonal interaction, the brain-to-brain mechanisms underlying real-time parent-child interactions remain largely understudied. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, we investigated interbrain synchrony in 88 parent-child dyads (Mage children = 8.07, 42.0% girls) during a collaborative task (the Etch-a-Sketch, a joint drawing task). Our findings revealed increased interbrain synchrony in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and temporo-parietal areas during interactive, collaborative sessions compared to non-interactive, resting sessions. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that interbrain synchrony in the left temporoparietal junction was associated with enhanced dyadic collaboration, shared positive affect, parental autonomy support, and parental emotional warmth. These associations remained significant after controlling for demographic variables including child age, child gender, and parent gender. Additionally, differences between fathers and mothers were observed. These results highlight the significant association between brain-to-brain synchrony in parent-child dyads, the quality of the parent-child relationship, and supportive parenting behaviors. Interbrain synchrony may serve as a neurobiological marker of real-time parent-child interaction, potentially underscoring the pivotal role of supportive parenting in shaping these interbrain synchrony mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sihan Liu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Zhuo Rachel Han
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Jianjie Xu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Qiandong Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Mengyu Miranda Gao
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Xiaofang Weng
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Applied Experimental Psychology, National Demonstration Center for Experimental Psychology Education, Faculty of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
| | - Shaozheng Qin
- State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning & IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Faculty of Psychology at Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China
- Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing 102206, China
| | - Kenneth H Rubin
- University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, United States
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17
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Zhang Y, Ye W, Yin J, Wu Q, Huang Y, Hao N, Cui L, Zhang M, Cai D. Exploring the role of mutual prediction in inter-brain synchronization during competitive interactions: an fNIRS hyperscanning investigation. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad483. [PMID: 38100358 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Mutual prediction is crucial for understanding the mediation of bodily actions in social interactions. Despite this importance, limited studies have investigated neurobehavioral patterns under the mutual prediction hypothesis in natural competitive scenarios. To address this gap, our study employed functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning to examine the dynamics of real-time rock-paper-scissors games using a computerized paradigm with 54 participants. Firstly, our results revealed activations in the right inferior frontal gyrus, bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and bilateral frontopolar cortex, each displaying distinct temporal profiles indicative of diverse cognitive processes during the task. Subsequently, a task-related increase in inter-brain synchrony was explicitly identified in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which supported the mutual prediction hypothesis across the two brains. Moreover, our investigation uncovered a close association between the coherence value in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the dynamic predictive performances of dyads using inter-subject representational similarity analysis. Finally, heightened inter-brain synchrony values were observed in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex before a draw compared to a no-draw scenario in the second block, suggesting that cross-brain signal patterns could be reflected in behavioral responses during competition. In summary, these findings provided initial support for expanding the understanding of cognitive processes underpinning natural competitive engagements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuxuan Zhang
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Weihao Ye
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Zhejiang 321004, China
| | - Junting Yin
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Qin Wu
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Yao Huang
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Na Hao
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Liying Cui
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Mingming Zhang
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Dan Cai
- School of Psychology, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
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18
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Zhang J, Wang Y, Mao Y, Leong C, Yuan Z. Shared Minds, Shared Feedback: tracing the influence of parental feedback on shared neural patterns. Cereb Cortex 2024; 34:bhad489. [PMID: 38163444 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Parental feedback affects children in multiple ways. However, little is known about how children, family, and feedback types affect parental feedback neural mechanisms. The current study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based hyperscanning to observe 47 mother-daughter pairs's (mean age of mothers: 35.95 ± 3.99 yr old; mean age of daughters: 6.97 ± 0.75 yr old) brain synchronization in a jigsaw game under various conditions. Between parental negative feedback and praise conditions, mother-daughter brain in supramarginal gyrus, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, right inferior frontal gyrus, and right primary somatic (S1) differed. When criticized, conformity family-communication-patterned families had much worse brain synchronization in S1, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and right Wernicke's region than conversational families. Resilient children had better mother-child supramarginal gyrus synchronicity under negative feedback. This study supports the importance of studying children's neurological development in nurturing environments to assess their psychological development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Zhang
- Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
| | - Yihui Wang
- Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
| | - Yidi Mao
- Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
| | - Chantat Leong
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
| | - Zhen Yuan
- Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China
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19
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Zhang J, Wang Y, Leong C, Mao Y, Yuan Z. Bridging Stories and Science: An fNIRS-based hyperscanning investigation into child learning in STEM. Neuroimage 2024; 285:120486. [PMID: 38070436 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 10/08/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Early STEM education is crucial for later learning. This novel study utilised fNIRS to examine how STEM teaching methods (i.e., traditional, storytelling, storyboarding) affect neural activity synchronisation between teachers and students. Our results showed that left and right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) for storytelling teaching versus traditional teaching, superior temporal gyrus for storyboard teaching versus traditional teaching, and left angular gyrus for storyboard and storytelling teaching were significant different in brain synchronisation. In the storytelling teaching condition, left supramarginal gyrus brain synchrony was found to improve STEM learning outcomes. In the storyboard teaching condition, IFG brain synchrony correlated positively with STEM learning improvement. The findings confirmed that story-based teaching and storyboarding can improve STEM learning efficacy at the neural level and unscored the significant role of neural synchronization as a predictor of learning outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Zhang
- Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China; Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
| | - Yihui Wang
- Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China; Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
| | - Chantat Leong
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China; Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
| | - Yidi Mao
- Faculty of Education, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China; Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China
| | - Zhen Yuan
- Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China; Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, University of Macau, Macau SAR, China.
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20
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Puglisi N, Favez N, Rattaz V, Epiney M, Razurel C, Tissot H. Interactive synchrony and infants' vagal tone as an index of emotion regulation: associations within each mother- and father-infant dyad and across dyads. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1299041. [PMID: 38169698 PMCID: PMC10758435 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1299041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Introduction Studies have shown that infants' emotion regulation capacities are closely linked to the quality of parent-infant interactions. However, these links have been mostly studied in mother-infant dyads and less is known about how the quality of father-infant interactions contributes to the development of emotion regulation during infancy. In this study, we aimed to investigate the links between interactive synchrony (i.e., an index of the quality of parent-infant coordination of interactive behaviors) and infants' vagal tone (i.e., a physiological index of emotion regulation). To understand the respective contributions of both parents, as well as the interrelations between the functioning of both dyads within a family, we observed mothers and fathers from 84 families interacting with their infants. Methods Synchrony was assessed by using the CARE-Index; infants' vagal tone was derived from the analysis of infants' electrocardiograms recorded during the interactions. Moreover, to take the play's order into account, we counterbalanced the procedure, so that approximately half of the mothers played first. We specified a first structural equation modeling (SEM) model to investigate the associations between interactive synchrony and the infants' root mean square of successive differences (RMSSD), an index of vagal regulation, in the two successive parts of the play. We conducted a multigroup analysis in a second SEM model to investigate the associations of the first SEM model in two groups based on the order of interaction. Results The results of the SEM models showed that greater synchrony was related to greater infant RMSSD within mother-infant dyads and across one dyad to the other dyad in the full sample and in the group of fathers who interacted first with the infants. The associations between synchrony and infant vagal tone within father-infant dyads never appeared to be significant, nor did any associations within each dyad and across dyads when mothers interacted first. Discussion This study highlights that the links between interactions and infants' vagal tone are sensitive to family members' interdependencies and some conditions (the order of interaction).
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Affiliation(s)
- Nilo Puglisi
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Nicolas Favez
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Valentine Rattaz
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Center for Family Studies, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Manuella Epiney
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. University of Geneva Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Chantal Razurel
- Department of Midwifery, University of Applied Sciences Western Switzerland, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Hervé Tissot
- Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
- Center for Family Studies, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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21
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Minagawa Y, Hata M, Yamamoto E, Tsuzuki D, Morimoto S. Inter-brain synchrony during mother-infant interactive parenting in 3-4-month-old infants with and without an elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder. Cereb Cortex 2023; 33:11609-11622. [PMID: 37885119 PMCID: PMC10724871 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhad395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Maternal bonding for mammalian infants is critical for their survival. Additionally, it is important for human infants' development into social creatures. However, despite the ample neurobiological evidence of attachment for the mother's brain, the interplay of this system in infants is poorly understood. We aimed to identify the neural substrates of synchrony in mothers and infants under three interactive conditions and compare the differences between groups with (n = 16) and without (n = 71) an elevated likelihood of autism spectrum disorder by examining the inter-brain synchrony between mothers and their 3-4-month-old infants. Mother-infant hyperscanning with functional near-infrared spectroscopy was performed during breastfeeding and while each of the mother and experimenter was holding the infants. The results showed almost no group differences, with both groups demonstrating the strongest inter-brain coupling for breastfeeding. The cerebral foci underlying these couplings differed between mothers and infants: the ventral prefrontal cortex, focusing on the right orbitofrontal cortex, in the mother and the left temporoparietal junction in the infant were chiefly involved in connecting the two brains. Furthermore, these synchronizations revealed many significant correlations with behavioral measures, including subsequent language development. The maternal reward-motivational system and the infant's elementary mentalization system seem to underlie mother-infant coupling during breastfeeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasuyo Minagawa
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Keio University, 4-1-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8521, Japan
- Human Biology-Microbiome-Quantum Research Center (WPI-Bio2Q), Keio University, 35 Shinanomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-8582, Japan
- Center for Advanced Research of Logic and Sensibility, Global Research Institute, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan
| | - Masahiro Hata
- Center for Advanced Research of Logic and Sensibility, Global Research Institute, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan
| | - Eriko Yamamoto
- Center for Advanced Research of Logic and Sensibility, Global Research Institute, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan
| | - Daisuke Tsuzuki
- Department of Information Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Kochi University, 2-5-1 Akebono-cho, kochi-shi, Kochi 780-8072, Japan
| | - Satoshi Morimoto
- Center for Advanced Research of Logic and Sensibility, Global Research Institute, Keio University, 2-15-45 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8345, Japan
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22
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Hakim U, De Felice S, Pinti P, Zhang X, Noah JA, Ono Y, Burgess PW, Hamilton A, Hirsch J, Tachtsidis I. Quantification of inter-brain coupling: A review of current methods used in haemodynamic and electrophysiological hyperscanning studies. Neuroimage 2023; 280:120354. [PMID: 37666393 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/08/2023] [Revised: 08/25/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- U Hakim
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Malet Place Engineering Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.
| | - S De Felice
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - P Pinti
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Malet Place Engineering Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom; Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
| | - X Zhang
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - J A Noah
- Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - Y Ono
- Department of Electronics and Bioinformatics, School of Science and Technology, Meiji University, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - P W Burgess
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - A Hamilton
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - J Hirsch
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Malet Place Engineering Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom; Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Departments of Neuroscience and Comparative Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Yale University, Wu Tsai Institute, New Haven, CT, United States
| | - I Tachtsidis
- Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, University College London, Malet Place Engineering Building, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
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23
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Bi X, Cui H, Ma Y. Hyperscanning Studies on Interbrain Synchrony and Child Development: A Narrative Review. Neuroscience 2023; 530:38-45. [PMID: 37657749 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.08.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/27/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023]
Abstract
Social interactions between parents and children are closely linked with children's development, and interbrain synchrony has been shown to be a neural marker of social interaction. However, to truly capture the essence of social interactions through interbrain synchrony, it is necessary to simultaneously discuss the parental and child brains and adequately record neurological signals during parent-child interactions in interactive tasks. In the current review, we have reviewed three main contents. First, we discuss the correlation between parent-child interbrain synchrony and the development of cognitive (e.g., emotion regulation, attention, and learning) and behavioral abilities (e.g., cooperation, problem-solving) in children. Second, we examine the different neural mechanisms of interbrain synchrony in mother-child and father-child interactions, aiming to highlight the separate roles of mother and father in child development. Last, we have integrated four methods to enhance interbrain synchrony, including communication patterns, nonverbal behavior, music, and multichannel stimulation. A significant correlation exists between parent-child interbrain synchrony and the development of children's cognitive and behavioral abilities. This summary may be useful for expanding researchers' and practitioners' understanding of the ways in which parenting and the parent-child relationship shape children' cognitive and behavioral abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoyan Bi
- School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China; Institution of Science, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China
| | - Hongbo Cui
- School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yankun Ma
- School of Education, Guangzhou University, Guangzhou, China.
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24
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Nguyen T, Flaten E, Trainor LJ, Novembre G. Early social communication through music: State of the art and future perspectives. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2023; 63:101279. [PMID: 37515832 PMCID: PMC10407289 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2023.101279] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/14/2023] [Indexed: 07/31/2023] Open
Abstract
A growing body of research shows that the universal capacity for music perception and production emerges early in development. Possibly building on this predisposition, caregivers around the world often communicate with infants using songs or speech entailing song-like characteristics. This suggests that music might be one of the earliest developing and most accessible forms of interpersonal communication, providing a platform for studying early communicative behavior. However, little research has examined music in truly communicative contexts. The current work aims to facilitate the development of experimental approaches that rely on dynamic and naturalistic social interactions. We first review two longstanding lines of research that examine musical interactions by focusing either on the caregiver or the infant. These include defining the acoustic and non-acoustic features that characterize infant-directed (ID) music, as well as behavioral and neurophysiological research examining infants' processing of musical timing and pitch. Next, we review recent studies looking at early musical interactions holistically. This research focuses on how caregivers and infants interact using music to achieve co-regulation, mutual engagement, and increase affiliation and prosocial behavior. We conclude by discussing methodological, technological, and analytical advances that might empower a comprehensive study of musical communication in early childhood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Trinh Nguyen
- Neuroscience of Perception and Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy.
| | - Erica Flaten
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
| | - Laurel J Trainor
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behavior, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada; Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Hospital, Toronto, Canada
| | - Giacomo Novembre
- Neuroscience of Perception and Action Lab, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, Italy
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25
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Pfaus JG, Safron A, Zakreski E. From distal to proximal to interactive: behavioral and brain synchrony during attraction, courtship, and sexual interaction-implications for clinical assessments of relationship style and quality. Sex Med Rev 2023; 11:312-322. [PMID: 37544764 DOI: 10.1093/sxmrev/qead034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2023] [Revised: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 07/04/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Synchronous behaviors between individuals are nonverbal signs of closeness and common purpose. In the flow from initial attraction to intimate sexual interaction, attention and synchrony move from distal to proximal to interactive and are mediated by sensitized activation of neural systems for sexual motivation, arousal, and desire and those that recognize and mimic common facial and body movements between individuals. When reinforced by sexual pleasure and other relationship rewards, this results in the strengthening of attraction and bonding and the display of more common motor patterns. As relationships falter, nonverbal behaviors likely become asynchronous. OBJECTIVES To define behavioral, romantic, and sexual synchrony during phases of attraction and how their disruption can be observed and utilized by clinicians to assess individual relationship styles and quality. METHODS We review the literature on behavioral and attentional synchrony in humans and animals in an effort to understand experiential and innate mechanisms of synchrony and asynchrony and how they develop, as well as implications for attraction, relationship initiation, maintenance of romantic and sexual closeness, and relationship disintegration. RESULTS Evidence is presented that behavioral synchrony and the neural mechanisms that underlie it are vital to relationship formation and satisfaction. CONCLUSION Behavioral synchrony helps to create feelings of sexual and romantic synergy, cohesion, and arousal among individuals. Asynchrony is aversive and can spark feelings of discontent, aversion, and jealousy. Thus, observing patterns of nonverbal sexual and romantic synchrony between individuals offers insights into the potential quality of their relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- James G Pfaus
- Department of Psychology and Life Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, 18200, Czech Republic
- Center for Sexual Health and Intervention, Czech National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, 25067, Czech Republic
| | - Adam Safron
- Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, 21224, United States
| | - Ellen Zakreski
- Department of Psychology and Life Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, 18200, Czech Republic
- Center for Sexual Health and Intervention, Czech National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, 25067, Czech Republic
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26
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Dziura SL, Hosangadi A, Shariq D, Merchant JS, Redcay E. Partner similarity and social cognitive traits predict social interaction success among strangers. Soc Cogn Affect Neurosci 2023; 18:nsad045. [PMID: 37698369 PMCID: PMC10516339 DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsad045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 07/02/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Social interactions are a ubiquitous part of engaging in the world around us, and determining what makes an interaction successful is necessary for social well-being. This study examined the separate contributions of individual social cognitive ability and partner similarity to social interaction success among strangers, measured by a cooperative communication task and self-reported interaction quality. Sixty participants engaged in a 1-h virtual social interaction with an unfamiliar partner (a laboratory confederate) including a 30-min cooperative 'mind-reading' game and then completed several individual tasks and surveys. They then underwent a separate functional MRI session in which they passively viewed video clips that varied in content. The neural responses to these videos were correlated with those of their confederate interaction partners to yield a measure of pairwise neural similarity. We found that trait empathy (assessed by the interpersonal reactivity index) and neural similarity to partner both predicted communication success in the mind-reading game. In contrast, perceived similarity to partner and (to a much lesser extent) trait mind-reading motivation predicted self-reported interaction quality. These results highlight the importance of sharing perspectives in successful communication as well as differences between neurobiological similarity and perceived similarity in supporting different types of interaction success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah L Dziura
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Aditi Hosangadi
- Center for Mind and Brain University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95618, USA
| | - Deena Shariq
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Junaid S Merchant
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
| | - Elizabeth Redcay
- Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
- Neuroscience and Cognitive Science Program, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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27
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Chen Y, Youk S, Wang PT, Pinti P, Weber R. A calculus of probability or belief? Neural underpinnings of social decision-making in a card game. Neuropsychologia 2023; 188:108635. [PMID: 37423422 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108635] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2022] [Revised: 05/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/30/2023] [Indexed: 07/11/2023]
Abstract
For decades, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) has been the focus of social neuroscience research, specifically regarding its role in competitive social decision-making. However, the distinct contributions of PFC subregions when making strategic decisions involving multiple types of information (social, non-social, and mixed information) remain unclear. This study investigates decision-making strategies (pure probability calculation vs. mentalizing) and their neural representations using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data collected during a two-person card game. We observed individual differences in information processing strategy, indicating that some participants relied more on probability than others. Overall, the use of pure probability decreased over time in favor of other types of information (e.g., mixed information), with this effect being more pronounced within-round trials than across rounds. In the brain, (1) the lateral PFC activates when decisions are driven by probability calculations; (2) the right lateral PFC responds to trial difficulty; and (3) the anterior medial PFC is engaged when decision-making involves mentalizing. Furthermore, neural synchrony, which reflects the real-time interplay between individuals' cognitive processes, did not consistently contribute to correct decisions and fluctuated throughout the experiment, suggesting a hierarchical mentalizing mechanism at work.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yibei Chen
- University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Communication - Media Neuroscience Lab, USA
| | - Sungbin Youk
- University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Communication - Media Neuroscience Lab, USA
| | - Paula T Wang
- University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Communication - Media Neuroscience Lab, USA
| | - Paola Pinti
- Birkbeck, University of London, Center for Brain and Cognitive Development, USA
| | - René Weber
- University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Communication - Media Neuroscience Lab, USA; University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, USA; Ewha Womans University, School of Communication and Media, South Korea.
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28
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Zhou Z, Chen YY, Yang B, Qu Y, Lee TH. Family Cohesion Moderates the Relation between Parent-Child Neural Connectivity Pattern Similarity and Youth's Emotional Adjustment. J Neurosci 2023; 43:5936-5943. [PMID: 37400252 PMCID: PMC10436682 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0349-23.2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2023] [Revised: 06/05/2023] [Accepted: 06/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite a recent surge in research examining parent-child neural similarity using fMRI, there remains a need for further investigation into how such similarity may play a role in children's emotional adjustment. Moreover, no prior studies explored the potential contextual factors that may moderate the link between parent-child neural similarity and children's developmental outcomes. In this study, 32 parent-youth dyads (parents: M age = 43.53 years, 72% female; children: M age = 11.69 years, 41% female) watched an emotion-evoking animated film while being scanned using fMRI. We first quantified how similarly emotion network interacts with other brain regions in responding to the emotion-evoking film between parents and their children. We then examined how such parent-child neural similarity is associated with children's emotional adjustment, with attention to the moderating role of family cohesion. Results revealed that higher parent-child similarity in functional connectivity pattern during movie viewing was associated with better emotional adjustment, including less negative affect, lower anxiety, and greater ego resilience in youth. Moreover, such associations were significant only among families with higher cohesion, but not among families with lower cohesion. The findings advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying how children thrive by being in sync and attuned with their parents, and provide novel empirical evidence that the effects of parent-child concordance at the neural level on children's development are contextually dependent.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT What neural processes underlie the attunement between children and their parents that helps children thrive? Using a naturalistic movie-watching fMRI paradigm, we find that greater parent-child similarity in how emotion network interacts with other brain regions during movie viewing is associated with youth's better emotional adjustment including less negative affect, lower anxiety, and greater ego resilience. Interestingly, these associations are only significant among families with higher cohesion, but not among those with lower cohesion. Our findings provide novel evidence that parent-child shared neural processes to emotional situations can confer benefits to children, and underscore the importance of considering specific family contexts in which parent-child neural similarity may be beneficial or detrimental to children's development, highlighting a crucial direction for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zexi Zhou
- Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712
| | - Ya-Yun Chen
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
| | - Beiming Yang
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208
| | - Yang Qu
- School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208
| | - Tae-Ho Lee
- Department of Psychology, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
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29
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Atilla F, Alimardani M, Kawamoto T, Hiraki K. Mother-child inter-brain synchrony during a mutual visual search task: A study of feedback valence and role. Soc Neurosci 2023; 18:232-244. [PMID: 37395457 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2023.2228545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2022] [Indexed: 07/04/2023]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fred Atilla
- Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
| | - Maryam Alimardani
- Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University, Tilburg, Netherlands
| | | | - Kazuo Hiraki
- Department of General Systems Studies, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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30
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Bornstein MH, Esposito G. Coregulation: A Multilevel Approach via Biology and Behavior. CHILDREN (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 10:1323. [PMID: 37628322 PMCID: PMC10453544 DOI: 10.3390/children10081323] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2023] [Revised: 07/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/28/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023]
Abstract
In this article, we explore the concept of coregulation, which encompasses the mutual adaptation between partners in response to one another's biology and behavior. Coregulation operates at both biological (hormonal and nervous system) and behavioral (affective and cognitive) levels and plays a crucial role in the development of self-regulation. Coregulation extends beyond the actions of individuals in a dyad and involves interactive contributions of both partners. We use as an example parent-child coregulation, which is pervasive and expected, as it emerges from shared genetic relatedness, cohabitation, continuous interaction, and the influence of common factors like culture, which facilitate interpersonal coregulation. We also highlight the emerging field of neural attunement, which investigates the coordination of brain-based neural activities between individuals, particularly in social interactions. Understanding the mechanisms and significance of neural attunement adds a new dimension to our understanding of coregulation and its implications for parent-child relationships and child development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc H. Bornstein
- Child and Family Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, 38068 Trento, Italy;
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31
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Shao C, Zhang X, Wu Y, Zhang W, Sun B. Increased Interpersonal Brain Synchronization in Romantic Couples Is Associated with Higher Honesty: An fNIRS Hyperscanning Study. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13050833. [PMID: 37239304 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13050833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Previous studies on the brain-brain interaction of deception have shown different patterns of interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) between different genders. However, the brain-brain mechanisms in the cross-sex composition need to be better understood. Furthermore, there needs to be more discussion about how relationships (e.g., romantic couples vs. strangers) affect the brain-brain mechanism under interactive deception. To elaborate on these issues, we used the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning approach to simultaneously measure interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) in romantic couples (heterosexual) and cross-sex stranger dyads during the sender-receiver game. The behavioral results found that the deception rate of males was lower than that of females, and romantic couples were deceived less than strangers. Significantly increased IBS was observed in the frontopolar cortex (FPC) and right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) of the romantic couple group. Moreover, the IBS is negatively correlated with the deception rate. No significantly increased IBS was observed in cross-sex stranger dyads. The result corroborated the lower deception of males and romantic couples in cross-sex interactions. Furthermore, IBS in the PFC and rTPJ was the underlying dual-brain neural basis for supporting honesty in romantic couples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chong Shao
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Xuecheng Zhang
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - You Wu
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
| | - Wenhai Zhang
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
- Big Data Center for Educational Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence, Hengyang Normal University, Hengyang 421001, China
| | - Binghai Sun
- School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
- Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua 321004, China
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32
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Gervain J, Minagawa Y, Emberson L, Lloyd-Fox S. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to study the early developing brain: future directions and new challenges. NEUROPHOTONICS 2023; 10:023519. [PMID: 37020727 PMCID: PMC10068680 DOI: 10.1117/1.nph.10.2.023519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 06/19/2023]
Abstract
Significance Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a frequently used neuroimaging tool to explore the developing brain, particularly in infancy, with studies spanning from birth to toddlerhood (0 to 2 years). We provide an overview of the challenges and opportunities that the developmental fNIRS field faces, after almost 25 years of research. Aim We discuss the most recent advances in fNIRS brain imaging with infants and outlines the trends and perspectives that will likely influence progress in the field in the near future. Approach We discuss recent progress and future challenges in various areas and applications of developmental fNIRS from methodological and technological innovations to data processing and statistical approaches. Results and Conclusions The major trends identified include uses of fNIRS "in the wild," such as global health contexts, home and community testing, and hyperscanning; advances in hardware, such as wearable technology; assessment of individual variation and developmental trajectories particularly while embedded in studies examining other environmental, health, and context specific factors and longitudinal designs; statistical advances including resting-state network and connectivity, machine learning and reproducibility, and collaborative studies. Standardization and larger studies have been, and will likely continue to be, a major goal in the field, and new data analysis techniques, statistical methods, and collaborative cross-site projects are emerging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Judit Gervain
- University of Padua, Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, Padua, Italy
- University of Padua, Padova Neuroscience Center, Padua, Italy
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Integrative Neuroscience and Cognition Center, Paris, France
| | - Yasuyo Minagawa
- Keio University, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Yokohama, Japan
| | - Lauren Emberson
- University of British Columbia, Department of Psychology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Sarah Lloyd-Fox
- University of Cambridge, Department of Psychology, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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33
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Zhang Q, Liu Z, Qian H, Hu Y, Gao X. Interpersonal Competition in Elderly Couples: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study. Brain Sci 2023; 13:brainsci13040600. [PMID: 37190565 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci13040600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/29/2023] [Indexed: 04/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Elderly people tend not to compete with others, and if they do, the mechanism behind the competition is not clear. In this study, groups of elderly couples and matched cross-sex controls were recruited to perform a competitive button-pressing task, while their brain signals were simultaneously collected using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning. Several fundamental observations were made. First, controls showed attenuated interpersonal competition across task processes, but couples held the competition with each other. Second, couples demonstrated increased inter-brain synchronization (IBS) between the middle temporal cortex and the temporoparietal junction across task processes. Third, Granger causality analysis in couples revealed significant differences between the directions (i.e., from men to women, and from women to men) in the first half of the competitive task, whereas there was no significant difference in the second half. Finally, the groups of couples and controls could be successfully discriminated against based on IBS by using a machine-learning approach. In sum, these findings indicate that elderly couples can maintain interpersonal competition, and such maintenance might be associated with changes in the IBS of the mentalizing system. It suggests the possible positive impact of long-term spouse relationships on interpersonal interactions, both behaviorally and neurally, in terms of competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qian Zhang
- Department of Psychology, Education College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Zhennan Liu
- Department of Psychology, Education College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Haoyue Qian
- Institute of Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Primate Neurobiology, CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China
- Shanghai Institute of Early Childhood Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Yinying Hu
- Department of Psychology, Education College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Xiangping Gao
- Department of Psychology, Education College, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
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Endevelt-Shapira Y, Feldman R. Mother-Infant Brain-to-Brain Synchrony Patterns Reflect Caregiving Profiles. BIOLOGY 2023; 12:biology12020284. [PMID: 36829560 PMCID: PMC9953313 DOI: 10.3390/biology12020284] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 02/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023]
Abstract
Biobehavioral synchrony, the coordination of physiological and behavioral signals between mother and infant during social contact, tunes the child's brain to the social world. Probing this mechanism from a two-brain perspective, we examine the associations between patterns of mother-infant inter-brain synchrony and the two well-studied maternal behavioral orientations-sensitivity and intrusiveness-which have repeatedly been shown to predict positive and negative socio-emotional outcomes, respectively. Using dual-electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings, we measure inter-brain connectivity between 60 mothers and their 5- to 12-month-old infants during face-to-face interaction. Thirty inter-brain connections show significantly higher correlations during the real mother-infant face-to-face interaction compared to surrogate data. Brain-behavior correlations indicate that higher maternal sensitivity linked with greater mother-infant neural synchrony, whereas higher maternal intrusiveness is associated with lower inter-brain coordination. Post hoc analysis reveals that the mother-right-frontal-infant-left-temporal connection is particularly sensitive to the mother's sensitive style, while the mother-left-frontal-infant-right-temporal connection indexes the intrusive style. Our results support the perspective that inter-brain synchrony is a mechanism by which mature brains externally regulate immature brains to social living and suggest that one pathway by which sensitivity and intrusiveness exert their long-term effect may relate to the provision of coordinated inputs to the social brain during its sensitive period of maturation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaara Endevelt-Shapira
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya 4610101, Israel
- Correspondence: (Y.E.-S.); (R.F.)
| | - Ruth Feldman
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya 4610101, Israel
- Child Study Center, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA
- Correspondence: (Y.E.-S.); (R.F.)
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35
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Ham GX, Lim KE, Augustine GJ, Leong V. Synchrony in parent-offspring social interactions across development: A cross-species review of rodents and humans. J Neuroendocrinol 2023:e13241. [PMID: 36929715 DOI: 10.1111/jne.13241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2022] [Revised: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023]
Abstract
In humans, parent-child neural synchrony has been shown to support early communication, social attunement and learning. Further, some animal species (including rodents and bats) are now known to share neural synchrony during certain forms of social behaviour. However, very little is known about the developmental origins and sequelae of neural synchrony, and whether this neural mechanism might play a causal role in the control of social and communicative behaviour across species. Rodent models are optimal for exploring such questions of causality, with a plethora of tools available for both disruption/induction (optogenetics) and even mechanistic dissection of synchrony-induction pathways (in vivo electrical or optical recording of neural activity). However, before the benefits of rodent models for advancing research on parent-infant synchrony can be realised, it is first important to address a gap in understanding the forms of parent-pup synchrony that occur during rodent development, and how these social relationships evolve over time. Accordingly, this review seeks to identify parent-pup social behaviours that could potentially drive or facilitate synchrony and to discuss key differences or limitations when comparing mouse to human models of parent-infant synchrony. Uniquely, our review will focus on parent-pup dyadic social behaviours that have particular analogies to the human context, including instrumental, social interactive and vocal communicative behaviours. This review is intended to serve as a primer on the study of neurobehavioral synchrony across human and rodent dyadic developmental models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gao Xiang Ham
- Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
- Lee Kong China School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Kai En Lim
- School of Biological Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - George J Augustine
- Lee Kong China School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Victoria Leong
- Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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36
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Azhari A, Gabrieli G, Bizzego A, Bornstein MH, Esposito G. Probing the association between maternal anxious attachment style and mother-child brain-to-brain coupling during passive co-viewing of visual stimuli. Attach Hum Dev 2023; 25:19-34. [PMID: 33357029 DOI: 10.1080/14616734.2020.1840790] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Brain-to-brain coupling during co-viewing of video stimuli reflects similar intersubjective mentalisation processes. During an everyday joint activity of watching video stimuli (television shows) with her child, an anxiously attached mother's preoccupation with her child is likely to distract her from understanding the mental state of characters in the show. To test the hypothesis that reduced coupling in the medial prefrontal cortex (PFC) would be observed with increasing maternal attachment anxiety (MAA), we profiled mothers' MAA using the Attachment Style Questionnaire and used functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) to assess PFC coupling in 31 mother-child dyads while they watched three 1-min animation videos together. Reduced coupling was observed with increasing MAA in the medial right PFC cluster which is implicated in mentalisation processes. This result did not survive control analyses and should be taken as preliminary. Reduced coupling between anxiously-attached mothers and their children during co-viewing could undermine quality of shared experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atiqah Azhari
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Giulio Gabrieli
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Andrea Bizzego
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Marc H Bornstein
- Institute for Fiscal Studies, London, UK.,Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.,Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy.,Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
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37
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Abstract
This introduction aims to set out the potential as well as some of the pitfalls of the newly emerging area of the Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment (SoNeAt). To organize and interconnect the burgeoning empirical studies in this line of research, including those in this special issue, we outline a programmatic framework including an extension of our conceptual proposals NAMA and NAMDA to guide future research. We hope that this special issue will act as a stimulus for redoubling our efforts advancing the newly emerging SoNeAt area bridging attachment theory and social neuroscience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars White
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Melanie Kungl
- Department of Psychology, Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
| | - Pascal Vrticka
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
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38
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Hudson D, Wiltshire TJ, Atzmueller M. multiSyncPy: A Python package for assessing multivariate coordination dynamics. Behav Res Methods 2023; 55:932-962. [PMID: 35513768 PMCID: PMC10027834 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-022-01855-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
In order to support the burgeoning field of research into intra- and interpersonal synchrony, we present an open-source software package: multiSyncPy. Multivariate synchrony goes beyond the bivariate case and can be useful for quantifying how groups, teams, and families coordinate their behaviors, or estimating the degree to which multiple modalities from an individual become synchronized. Our package includes state-of-the-art multivariate methods including symbolic entropy, multidimensional recurrence quantification analysis, coherence (with an additional sum-normalized modification), the cluster-phase 'Rho' metric, and a statistical test based on the Kuramoto order parameter. We also include functions for two surrogation techniques to compare the observed coordination dynamics with chance levels and a windowing function to examine time-varying coordination for most of the measures. Taken together, our collation and presentation of these methods make the study of interpersonal synchronization and coordination dynamics applicable to larger, more complex and often more ecologically valid study designs. In this work, we summarize the relevant theoretical background and present illustrative practical examples, lessons learned, as well as guidance for the usage of our package - using synthetic as well as empirical data. Furthermore, we provide a discussion of our work and software and outline interesting further directions and perspectives. multiSyncPy is freely available under the LGPL license at: https://github.com/cslab-hub/multiSyncPy , and also available at the Python package index.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Hudson
- Semantic Information Systems Group, Institute of Computer Science, Osnabrück University, P.O. Box 4469, 49069, Osnabrueck, Germany.
- Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.
| | - Travis J Wiltshire
- Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
| | - Martin Atzmueller
- Semantic Information Systems Group, Institute of Computer Science, Osnabrück University, P.O. Box 4469, 49069, Osnabrueck, Germany
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39
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Azhari A, Bizzego A, Esposito G. Parent-child dyads with greater parenting stress exhibit less synchrony in posterior areas and more synchrony in frontal areas of the prefrontal cortex during shared play. Soc Neurosci 2023; 17:520-531. [PMID: 36576051 DOI: 10.1080/17470919.2022.2162118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Parent-child dyads who are mutually attuned to each other during social interactions display interpersonal synchrony that can be observed behaviorally and through the temporal coordination of brain signals called interbrain synchrony. Parenting stress undermines the quality of parent-child interactions. However, no study has examined synchrony in relation to parenting stress during everyday shared play. The present fNIRS study examined the association between parenting stress and interbrain synchrony in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of 31 mother-child and 29 father-child dyads while they engaged in shared play for 10 min. Shared play was micro-analytically coded into joint and non-joint segments. Interbrain synchrony was computed using cross-correlations over 15-, 20-, 25-, 30- and 35-s fixed-length windows. Findings showed that stressed dyads exhibited less synchrony in the posterior right cluster of the PFC during joint segments of play, and, contrary to expectations, stressed dyads also showed greater synchrony in the frontal left cluster. These findings suggest that dyads with more parenting stress experienced less similarities in brain areas involved in emotional processing and regulation, whilst simultaneously requiring greater neural entrainment in brain areas that support task management and social-behavioral organization in order to sustain prolonged periods of joint interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atiqah Azhari
- Psychology Programme, School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Andrea Bizzego
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, Italy
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40
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Wang LS, Cheng JT, Hsu IJ, Liou S, Kung CC, Chen DY, Weng MH. Distinct cerebral coherence in task-based fMRI hyperscanning: cooperation versus competition. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:421-433. [PMID: 35266996 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2021] [Revised: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
This study features an functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) hyperscanning experiment from 2 sites, 305 km apart. The experiment contains 2 conditions: the dyad collaborated to win and then split the reward in the cooperation condition, whereas the winner took all the reward in the competition condition, thereby resulting in dynamic strategic interactions. To calculate the cerebral coherence in such jittered event-related fMRI tasks, we first iteratively estimated the feedback-related blood oxygenation level-dependent responses of each trial, using 8 finite impulse response functions (16 s) and then concatenated the beta volume series. With the right temporal-parietal junction (rTPJ) as the seed, the interpersonal connected brain areas were separately identified: the right superior temporal gyrus (rSTG) (cooperation) and the left precuneus (lPrecuneus) (competition), both peaking at the designated frequency bin (1/16 s = 0.0625 Hz), but not in permuted pairs. In addition, the extended coherence analyses on shorter and longer concatenated volumes verified that only in the optimal trial frequency did the rTPJ-rSTG and rTPJ-lPrecuneus couplings peak. In sum, our approach both showcases a flexible analysis method that widens the applicability of interpersonal coherence in the rapid event-related fMRI hyperscanning and reveals a context-based inter-brain coupling between interacting pairs during cooperation and during competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Le-Si Wang
- Institute of Creative Industries Design, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
| | - Jen-Tang Cheng
- Department of Economics, NCKU, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
| | - I-Jeng Hsu
- Department of Economics, NCKU, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
| | - Shyhnan Liou
- Institute of Creative Industries Design, National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
| | - Chun-Chia Kung
- Department of Psychology, NCKU, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan.,Mind Research and Imaging (MRI) Center, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
| | - Der-Yow Chen
- Department of Psychology, NCKU, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan.,Mind Research and Imaging (MRI) Center, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
| | - Ming-Hung Weng
- Department of Economics, NCKU, No. 1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan
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41
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Schwartz L, Levy J, Endevelt-Shapira Y, Djalovski A, Hayut O, Dumas G, Feldman R. Technologically-assisted communication attenuates inter-brain synchrony. Neuroimage 2022; 264:119677. [PMID: 36244598 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119677] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Revised: 10/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/07/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
The transition to technologically-assisted communication has permeated all facets of human social life; yet, its impact on the social brain is still unknown and the effects may be particularly intense during periods of developmental transitions. Applying a two-brain perspective, the current preregistered study utilized hyperscanning EEG to measure brain-to-brain synchrony in 62 mother-child pairs at the transition to adolescence (child age; M = 12.26, range 10-14) during live face-to-face interaction versus technologically-assisted remote communication. The live interaction elicited 9 significant cross-brain links between densely inter-connected frontal and temporal areas in the beta range [14-30 Hz]. Mother's right frontal region connected with the child's right and left frontal, temporal, and central regions, suggesting its regulatory role in organizing the two-brain dynamics. In contrast, the remote interaction elicited only 1 significant cross-brain-cross-hemisphere link, attenuating the robust right-to-right-brain connectivity during live social moments that communicates socio-affective signals. Furthermore, while the level of social behavior was comparable between the two interactions, brain-behavior associations emerged only during the live exchange. Mother-child right temporal-temporal synchrony linked with moments of shared gaze and the degree of child engagement and empathic behavior correlated with right frontal-frontal synchrony. Our findings indicate that human co-presence is underpinned by specific neurobiological processes that should be studied in depth. Much further research is needed to tease apart whether the "Zoom fatigue" experienced during technological communication may stem, in part, from overload on more limited inter-brain connections and to address the potential cost of social technology for brain maturation, particularly among youth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linoy Schwartz
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Jonathan Levy
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel; Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Finland
| | | | - Amir Djalovski
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Olga Hayut
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel
| | - Guillaume Dumas
- Precision Psychiatry and Social Physiology laboratory, CHU Sainte-Justine Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Ruth Feldman
- Center for Developmental Social Neuroscience, Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel; Child Study Center, Yale University, United States.
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42
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Understanding why infant-directed speech supports learning: A dynamic attention perspective. DEVELOPMENTAL REVIEW 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.dr.2022.101047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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43
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Coupling between prefrontal brain activity and respiratory sinus arrhythmia in infants and adults. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2022; 58:101184. [PMID: 36495790 PMCID: PMC9730144 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2022.101184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Revised: 11/21/2022] [Accepted: 11/29/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Self-regulation is an essential aspect of healthy child development. Even though infants depend on their caregivers for co-regulation during the first years, they begin to gain regulatory abilities through social interactions as well as their own developing agency and inhibitory control. These early regulatory abilities continue to increase with the development of both the prefrontal cortex and the vagal system. Importantly, theoretical accounts have suggested that the prefrontal cortex and the vagal system are linked through forward and backward feedback loops via the limbic system. Decreased coupling within this link is suggested to be associated with psychopathology. The primary goal of this study was to examine whether intrapersonal coupling of prefrontal brain activity and respiratory sinus arrhythmia is evident in infancy. Using the simultaneous assessment of functional near-infrared spectroscopy and electrocardiography, we used Cross-Recurrence Quantification Analysis to assess the coupling of prefrontal brain activity and respiratory sinus arrhythmia in 69 4- to 6-month-old infants and their mothers during a passive viewing condition. However, we did not find significant coupling between the PFC and RSA in infants and adult caregivers. Future studies could examine social contexts associated with greater emotional reactivity to deepen our understanding of the pathways involved in self-regulation.
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44
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Bazhydai M, Ke H, Thomas H, Wong MKY, Westermann G. Investigating the effect of synchronized movement on toddlers' word learning. Front Psychol 2022; 13:1008404. [PMID: 36506988 PMCID: PMC9731293 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1008404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2022] [Accepted: 10/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
The effect of interpersonal behavioral synchrony on children's behavior is an emerging field rich with research potential. While studies demonstrate its effect on affiliative and prosocial outcomes, the role of synchronized movement on children's specific learning outcomes has not yet been investigated experimentally. One possibility is that synchrony, as a coordinated social activity, encourages perceived social bonds, leading to heightened attention, and better information retention. Equally likely is that physiological, rather than social learning, mechanisms mediate the effect, given the previously demonstrated role of autonomic arousal in attentional fluctuations, cognitive engagement, problem solving, exploration, and curiosity. The present study investigated the behavioral and physiological effects of synchrony conceptualized as induced, interpersonal, behavioral, movement-based interaction, on word learning in 2.5-year-old children. In a laboratory experiment, toddlers engaged in either a synchronous or an asynchronous movement-based interaction with an adult experimenter while listening to an upbeat children's song. After the (a)synchronous movement episode, the same experimenter engaged children in a word learning task. During the (a)synchrony and learning phases, children's physiological arousal was continuously recorded, resulting in heart rate and skin conductance response measures. Following a caregiver-child free play break, children were tested on their novel word retention. The results indicated that children learned novel labels at equal rates during the learning phase in both conditions, and their retention at test did not differ between conditions: although above chance retention of novel labels was found only following the synchronous, but not the asynchronous episode, the cross-episode comparisons did not reach statistical significance. Physiological arousal indices following the (a)synchrony episode did not differ between conditions and did not predict better word learning, although skin conductance response was higher during the learning than the movement episode. This study contributes to our understanding of the underlying cognitive and physiological mechanisms of interpersonal behavioral synchrony in the knowledge acquisition domain and paves the way to future investigations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marina Bazhydai
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom,*Correspondence: Marina Bazhydai,
| | - Han Ke
- Psychology School of Social Science, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Hannah Thomas
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
| | - Malcolm K. Y. Wong
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
| | - Gert Westermann
- Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
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45
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Liu Y, Li J, Wang Q, Li Y. The specificity, situational modulations, and behavioral correlates of parent-child neural synchrony. Front Hum Neurosci 2022; 16:1000826. [PMID: 36438636 PMCID: PMC9682019 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.1000826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Accepted: 10/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, aiming to uncover the neural mechanism of parent-child interaction and link it to the children's social development, a newly developed index, namely, parent-child inter-brain neural synchronization (INS) has attracted growing interest. Existing studies have mainly focused on three aspects of the INS; these are the specificity of the INS (i.e., stronger INS for parent-child dyads than stranger-child dyads), the situational modulations of the INS (i.e., how the valence of the situation or the types of interaction modulate INS), and the associations between the INS and the state-like behavioral tendencies or trait-like individual features of the parents and children. This review summarizes the existing findings in line with these three topics and provides preliminary suggestions to promote parent-child INS. In the meanwhile, the inconsistent findings and unstudied questions were discussed, opening new avenues for future studies.
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46
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Bizzego A, Gabrieli G, Azhari A, Lim M, Esposito G. Dataset of parent-child hyperscanning functional near-infrared spectroscopy recordings. Sci Data 2022; 9:625. [PMID: 36243727 PMCID: PMC9569382 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-022-01751-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2022] [Accepted: 09/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The term “hyperscanning” refers to the simultaneous recording of multiple individuals’ brain activity. As a methodology, hyperscanning allows the investigation of brain-to-brain synchrony. Despite being a promising technique, there is a limited number of publicly available functional Near-infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning recordings. In this paper, we report a dataset of fNIRS recordings from the prefrontal cortical (PFC) activity of 33 mother-child dyads and 29 father-child dyads. Data was recorded while the parent-child dyads participated in an experiment with two sessions: a passive video attention task and a free play session. Dyadic metadata, parental psychological traits, behavioural annotations of the play sessions and information about the video stimuli complementing the dataset of fNIRS signals are described. The dataset presented here can be used to design, implement, and test novel fNIRS analysis techniques, new hyperscanning analysis tools, as well as investigate the PFC activity in participants of different ages when they engage in passive viewing tasks and active interactive tasks. Measurement(s) | Blood Oxygen Level-Dependent Response | Technology Type(s) | Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy | Factor Type(s) | Parenting Stress • Parental Bonding • Attachment Style | Sample Characteristic - Organism | Homo sapiens | Sample Characteristic - Location | Singapore |
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea Bizzego
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, 38068, Italy
| | - Giulio Gabrieli
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639818, Singapore.,Neuroscience and Behaviour Laboratory, Italian Institute of Technology, Rome, 00161, Italy
| | - Atiqah Azhari
- Psychology Programme, School of Humanities and Behavioural Sciences, Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore, 599494, Singapore
| | - Mengyu Lim
- Psychology Program, School of Social Sciences, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 639818, Singapore
| | - Gianluca Esposito
- Department of Psychology and Cognitive Science, University of Trento, Rovereto, 38068, Italy.
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47
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Lin JFL, Imada T, Meltzoff AN, Hiraishi H, Ikeda T, Takahashi T, Hasegawa C, Yoshimura Y, Kikuchi M, Hirata M, Minabe Y, Asada M, Kuhl PK. Dual-MEG interbrain synchronization during turn-taking verbal interactions between mothers and children. Cereb Cortex 2022; 33:4116-4134. [PMID: 36130088 PMCID: PMC10068303 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhac330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2021] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Verbal interaction and imitation are essential for language learning and development in young children. However, it is unclear how mother-child dyads synchronize oscillatory neural activity at the cortical level in turn-based speech interactions. Our study investigated interbrain synchrony in mother-child pairs during a turn-taking paradigm of verbal imitation. A dual-MEG (magnetoencephalography) setup was used to measure brain activity from interactive mother-child pairs simultaneously. Interpersonal neural synchronization was compared between socially interactive and noninteractive tasks (passive listening to pure tones). Interbrain networks showed increased synchronization during the socially interactive compared to noninteractive conditions in the theta and alpha bands. Enhanced interpersonal brain synchrony was observed in the right angular gyrus, right triangular, and left opercular parts of the inferior frontal gyrus. Moreover, these parietal and frontal regions appear to be the cortical hubs exhibiting a high number of interbrain connections. These cortical areas could serve as a neural marker for the interactive component in verbal social communication. The present study is the first to investigate mother-child interbrain neural synchronization during verbal social interactions using a dual-MEG setup. Our results advance our understanding of turn-taking during verbal interaction between mother-child dyads and suggest a role for social "gating" in language learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jo-Fu Lotus Lin
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS), University of Washington, Portage Bay Building, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa-City, Ishikawa-Ken 920-8640, Japan.,Institute of Linguistics, National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 300044, Taiwan
| | - Toshiaki Imada
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS), University of Washington, Portage Bay Building, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA.,Research Center for Child Mental Development, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa-City, Ishikawa-Ken 920-8640, Japan
| | - Andrew N Meltzoff
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS), University of Washington, Portage Bay Building, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
| | - Hirotoshi Hiraishi
- Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, 1 Chome-20-1 Handayama, Higashi Ward, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 431-3192, Japan
| | - Takashi Ikeda
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa-City, Ishikawa-Ken 920-8640, Japan
| | | | - Chiaki Hasegawa
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa-City, Ishikawa-Ken 920-8640, Japan
| | - Yuko Yoshimura
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa-City, Ishikawa-Ken 920-8640, Japan
| | - Mitsuru Kikuchi
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa-City, Ishikawa-Ken 920-8640, Japan
| | - Masayuki Hirata
- Department of Neurosurgery, Osaka University Medical School, 2 Chome-2 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Yoshio Minabe
- Research Center for Child Mental Development, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kanazawa University, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa-City, Ishikawa-Ken 920-8640, Japan
| | - Minoru Asada
- Department of Adaptive Machine Systems, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan
| | - Patricia K Kuhl
- Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS), University of Washington, Portage Bay Building, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA
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Interpersonal neural synchrony when predicting others' actions during a game of rock-paper-scissors. Sci Rep 2022; 12:12967. [PMID: 35902663 PMCID: PMC9334613 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-16956-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
As members of a social species, we spend most of our time interacting with others. In interactions, we tend to mutually align our behavior and brain responses to communicate more effectively. In a semi-computerized version of the Rock-Paper-Scissors game, we investigated whether people show enhanced interpersonal neural synchronization when making explicit predictions about others' actions. Across four experimental conditions, we measured the dynamic brain activity using the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning method. Results showed that interpersonal neural synchrony was enhanced when participants played the game together as they would do in real life in comparison to when they played the game on their own. We found no evidence of increased neural synchrony when participants made explicit predictions about others' actions. Hence, neural synchrony may depend on mutual natural interaction rather than an explicit prediction strategy. This study is important, as it examines one of the presumed functions of neural synchronization namely facilitating predictions.
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Gilbert P, Basran JK, Raven J, Gilbert H, Petrocchi N, Cheli S, Rayner A, Hayes A, Lucre K, Minou P, Giles D, Byrne F, Newton E, McEwan K. Compassion Focused Group Therapy for People With a Diagnosis of Bipolar Affective Disorder: A Feasibility Study. Front Psychol 2022; 13:841932. [PMID: 35936292 PMCID: PMC9347420 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.841932] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Compassion focused therapy (CFT) is an evolutionary informed, biopsychosocial approach to mental health problems and therapy. It suggests that evolved motives (e.g., for caring, cooperating, competing) are major sources for the organisation of psychophysiological processes which underpin mental health problems. Hence, evolved motives can be targets for psychotherapy. People with certain types of depression are psychophysiologically orientated towards social competition and concerned with social status and social rank. These can give rise to down rank-focused forms of social comparison, sense of inferiority, worthlessness, lowered confidence, submissive behaviour, shame proneness and self-criticism. People with bipolar disorders also experience elevated aspects of competitiveness and up rank status evaluation. These shift processing to a sense of superiority, elevated confidence, energised behaviour, positive affect and social dominance. This is the first study to explore the feasibility of a 12 module CFT group, tailored to helping people with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder understand the impact of evolved competitive, status-regulating motivation on their mental states and the value of cultivating caring and compassion motives and their psychophysiological regulators. Methods Six participants with a history of bipolar disorder took part in a CFT group consisting of 12 modules (over 25 sessions) as co-collaborators to explore their personal experiences of CFT and potential processes of change. Assessment of change was measured via self-report, heart rate variability (HRV) and focus groups over three time points. Results Although changes in self-report scales between participants and across time were uneven, four of the six participants consistently showed improvements across the majority of self-report measures. Heart rate variability measures revealed significant improvement over the course of the therapy. Qualitative data from three focus groups revealed participants found CFT gave them helpful insight into: how evolution has given rise to a number of difficult problems for emotion regulation (called tricky brain) which is not one's fault; an evolutionary understanding of the nature of bipolar disorders; development of a compassionate mind and practices of compassion focused visualisations, styles of thinking and behaviours; addressing issues of self-criticism; and building a sense of a compassionate identity as a means of coping with life difficulties. These impacted their emotional regulation and social relationships. Conclusion Although small, the study provides evidence of feasibility, acceptability and engagement with CFT. Focus group analysis revealed that participants were able to switch from competitive focused to compassion focused processing with consequent improvements in mental states and social behaviour. Participants indicated a journey over time from 'intellectually' understanding the process of building a compassionate mind to experiencing a more embodied sense of compassion that had significant impacts on their orientation to (and working with) the psychophysiological processes of bipolar disorder.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Gilbert
- Centre for Compassion Research and Training, College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, United Kingdom
- The Compassionate Mind Foundation, Derby, United Kingdom
| | - Jaskaran K. Basran
- Centre for Compassion Research and Training, College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, United Kingdom
- The Compassionate Mind Foundation, Derby, United Kingdom
| | - Joanne Raven
- The Compassionate Mind Foundation, Derby, United Kingdom
| | - Hannah Gilbert
- The Compassionate Mind Foundation, Derby, United Kingdom
- Department of Psychology, University of Roehampton, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nicola Petrocchi
- Department of Economics and Social Sciences, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy
- Compassionate Mind ITALIA, Rome, Italy
| | - Simone Cheli
- School of Human Health Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | - Andrew Rayner
- The Compassionate Mind Foundation, Derby, United Kingdom
| | - Alison Hayes
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Kate Lucre
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Paschalina Minou
- Department of Philosophy, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, United Kingdom
| | - David Giles
- Lattice Coaching and Training, Chesterfield, United Kingdom
| | - Frances Byrne
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom
| | - Elizabeth Newton
- College of Health, Psychology and Social Care, University of Derby, Derby, United Kingdom
| | - Kirsten McEwan
- Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham, United Kingdom
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Nazneen T, Islam IB, Sajal MSR, Jamal W, Amin MA, Vaidyanathan R, Chau T, Mamun KA. Recent Trends in Non-invasive Neural Recording Based Brain-to-Brain Synchrony Analysis on Multidisciplinary Human Interactions for Understanding Brain Dynamics: A Systematic Review. Front Comput Neurosci 2022; 16:875282. [PMID: 35782087 PMCID: PMC9245014 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2022.875282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/20/2022] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The study of brain-to-brain synchrony has a burgeoning application in the brain-computer interface (BCI) research, offering valuable insights into the neural underpinnings of interacting human brains using numerous neural recording technologies. The area allows exploring the commonality of brain dynamics by evaluating the neural synchronization among a group of people performing a specified task. The growing number of publications on brain-to-brain synchrony inspired the authors to conduct a systematic review using the PRISMA protocol so that future researchers can get a comprehensive understanding of the paradigms, methodologies, translational algorithms, and challenges in the area of brain-to-brain synchrony research. This review has gone through a systematic search with a specified search string and selected some articles based on pre-specified eligibility criteria. The findings from the review revealed that most of the articles have followed the social psychology paradigm, while 36% of the selected studies have an application in cognitive neuroscience. The most applied approach to determine neural connectivity is a coherence measure utilizing phase-locking value (PLV) in the EEG studies, followed by wavelet transform coherence (WTC) in all of the fNIRS studies. While most of the experiments have control experiments as a part of their setup, a small number implemented algorithmic control, and only one study had interventional or a stimulus-induced control experiment to limit spurious synchronization. Hence, to the best of the authors' knowledge, this systematic review solely contributes to critically evaluating the scopes and technological advances of brain-to-brain synchrony to allow this discipline to produce more effective research outcomes in the remote future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tahnia Nazneen
- Advanced Intelligent Multidisciplinary Systems Lab, Institute of Advanced Research, United International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Iffath Binta Islam
- Advanced Intelligent Multidisciplinary Systems Lab, Institute of Advanced Research, United International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Md. Sakibur Rahman Sajal
- Advanced Intelligent Multidisciplinary Systems Lab, Institute of Advanced Research, United International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, United International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | | | - M. Ashraful Amin
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Independent University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
| | - Ravi Vaidyanathan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Tom Chau
- Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
| | - Khondaker A. Mamun
- Advanced Intelligent Multidisciplinary Systems Lab, Institute of Advanced Research, United International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, United International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
- *Correspondence: Khondaker A. Mamun
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