Why to cooperate is better than to compete: brain and personality components

Inter-brain entrainment (IBE) during interoception. A multimodal EEG-fNIRS coherence-based hyperscanning approach

This work examined the impact of interoceptive manipulation and the presence of a shared goal on inter-brain entrainment (IBE) during a motor synchronization task. A multimodal functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy - Electroencephalogram (fNIRS-EEG) system-based hyperscanning approach was applied to 13 dyads performing the motor synchrony task during an interoceptive (focus on the breath) and control condition. Additionally, two version of the motor task-one with and one without a clearly defined common goal-were presented to participants to emphasize the task's collaborative purpose. The multimodal approach was exploited to record the electrophysiological (EEG) cortical oscillation and hemodynamic (oxy-Hb and deoxy-Hb) levels. Results revealed significant correlations between EEG delta, theta, and alpha band and hemodynamic oxy-Hb in the left compared to right hemisphere for the interoceptive confronted with the control condition. This significant EEG/fNIRS IBE correlation was also found for delta and theta band whereas the task was presented with an explicit shared goal confronted with the no-social version. In addition to separate functional connectivity EEG and fNIRS analysis, this study proposed a novel analysis pipeline including statistical tests for examining the coherence between functional connectivity EEG-fNIRS signals within couples. Besides proposing methodological advancements on EEG-fNIRS signals hyperscanning analysis, this research demonstrated that, in dyads undertaking a motor synchronization task, both the interoceptive attention to respiration and an explicit joint intention activate left anterior regions.

A dynamic brain network decomposition method discovers effective brain hemodynamic sub-networks for Parkinson's disease

Objective.Dopaminergic treatment is effective for Parkinson's disease (PD). Nevertheless, the conventional treatment assessment mainly focuses on human-administered behavior examination while the underlying functional improvements have not been well explored. This paper aims to investigate brain functional variations of PD patients after dopaminergic therapy.Approach.This paper proposed a dynamic brain network decomposition method and discovered brain hemodynamic sub-networks that well characterized the efficacy of dopaminergic treatment in PD. Firstly, a clinical walking procedure with functional near-infrared spectroscopy was developed, and brain activations during the procedure from fifty PD patients under the OFF and ON states (without and with dopaminergic medication) were captured. Then, dynamic brain networks were constructed with sliding-window analysis of phase lag index and integrated time-varying functional networks across all patients. Afterwards, an aggregated network decomposition algorithm was formulated based on aggregated effectiveness optimization of functional networks in spanning network topology and cross-validation network variations, and utilized to unveil effective brain hemodynamic sub-networks for PD patients. Further, dynamic sub-network features were constructed to characterize the brain flexibility and dynamics according to the temporal switching and activation variations of discovered sub-networks, and their correlations with differential treatment-induced gait alterations were analyzed.Results.The results demonstrated that PD patients exhibited significantly enhanced flexibility after dopaminergic therapy within a sub-network related to the improvement of motor functions. Other sub-networks were significantly correlated with trunk-related axial symptoms and exhibited no significant treatment-induced dynamic interactions.Significance.The proposed method promises a quantified and objective approach for dopaminergic treatment evaluation. Moreover, the findings suggest that the gait of PD patients comprises distinct motor domains, and the corresponding neural controls are selectively responsive to dopaminergic treatment.

Inter-brain neural mechanism and influencing factors underlying different cooperative behaviors: a hyperscanning study

Cooperative behavior is a vital social interaction which plays a vital role in improving human survival and reproduction. However, few empirical studies have examined the differences between cooperative behaviors and the underlying neural substrates. In the present study, the brain activity of familiar dyads of the same sex was measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy during three cooperative tasks (cooperative button-press, tangram, and Jenga tasks). We also measured the dyads' empathic abilities and personality traits to investigate the relationships between individual characteristics and neural markers. The results showed that first, there were significant differences in intra-brain activation and inter-brain synchronization among different cooperative tasks in three dimensions: social cognition, behavioral response, and cognitive processing. Second, male participants require stronger intra-brain activation to achieve the same inter-brain synchronization level as women in cooperative tasks. Third, when performing cooperative tasks involving high cognitive demands, Big Five Neuroticism may be an important predictor of neural activation in female participants. Inter-brain synchronization plays an important role in the frontal and temporoparietal junctions during interpersonal cooperation. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that mutual prediction theory is crucial for understanding the neural mechanisms of cooperative behavior.

Systemic Risk: The Threat to Societal Diversity and Coherence

Insights from complexity science can be applied to the analysis of social processes in heterogeneous societies. Many features that characterize and influence complex structures in nearly every domain of nature, technology, and society can be derived from simple modeling processes in physics and chemistry. If one applies these features to the structure of social risks, a number of insights are gained that can be subject to further empirical analysis. In particular, they add-to the well-known steering mechanisms of hierarchy, competition, and cooperation-the contribution of self-organization, the effect of which is underestimated in almost all theories of social science. But in view of the crises facing modern democracy, such as migration and populism, it is precisely this mechanism of dynamic structure generation that is decisive for an effective and fair risk governance. In this article, we analyze the threat to societal diversity and coherence on the basis of complexity science.

The Effects of Cooperative and Competitive Situations on Statistical Learning

Devising cooperative or competitive situations is an important teaching strategy in educational practices. Nevertheless, there is still controversy regarding which situation is better for learning. This study was conducted to explore the effects of cooperative and competitive situations on statistical learning, through the alternating serial reaction time (ASRT) task. Individual cooperative and competitive situations were devised in this study, in which individual situation served as the control condition. Ninety recruited participants were randomly assigned to a cooperative, competitive, or individual group to perform the ASRT task. For general learning, cooperative and competitive situations could indeed make learners respond faster, and there was no significant difference in the RT between the cooperative and competitive groups. Moreover, statistical learning was observed in all three groups. An additional analysis of the early stage of the experiment showed that the learning effect of the competitive group was greater than those of the cooperative and individual groups, in terms of statistical learning. However, the final learning effect was not significantly different among the three groups. Overall, the cooperative and competitive situations had a positive impact on learning and enabled the students to acquire approximately the same learning effect in a shorter time period, compared with the individual situation. Specifically, the competitive situation accelerated the statistical learning process but not the general learning process.

Winners and losers in brain computer interface competitive gaming: Directional connectivity analysis

OBJECTIVE

to characterize the direction within and between brain connectivity in winning and losing players in a competitive brain-computer interface game.

APPROACH

ten dyads (26.9 ± 4.7 years old, eight females and 12 males) participated in the study. In a competitive game based on neurofeedback, they used their relative alpha (RA) band power from the electrode location Pz, to control a virtual seesaw. The players in each pair were separated into winners (W) and losers (L) based on their scores. Intrabrain connectivity was analyzed using multivariate Granger Causality (GC) and Directed Transfer Function, while interbrain connectivity was analyzed using bivariate GC.

RESULTS

linear regression analysis revealed a significant relationship (p<0.05) between RA and individual scores. During the game, W players maintained a higher RA than L players, although it was not higher than their baseline RA. The analysis of intrabrain GC indicated that both groups engaged in general social interactions, but only the W group succeeded in controlling their brain activity at Pz. Group L applied an inappropriate metal strategy, characterized by strong activity in the left frontal cortex, indicative of collaborative gaming. Interbrain GC showed a larger flow of information from the L to the W group, suggesting a higher capability of the W group to monitor the activity of their opponent.

SIGNIFICANCE

both innate neurological indices and gaming mental strategies contribute to game outcomes. Future studies should investigate whether there is a causal relationship between these two factors.

Viewing neurovascular coupling through the lens of combined EEG-fNIRS: A systematic review of current methods

Neurovascular coupling is a key physiological mechanism that occurs in the healthy human brain, and understanding this process has implications for understanding the aging and neuropsychiatric populations. Combined electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has emerged as a promising, noninvasive tool for probing neurovascular interactions in humans. However, the utility of this approach critically depends on the methodological quality used for multimodal integration. Despite a growing number of combined EEG-fNIRS applications reported in recent years, the methodological rigor of past studies remains unclear, limiting the accurate interpretation of reported findings and hindering the translational application of this multimodal approach. To fill this knowledge gap, we critically evaluated various methodological aspects of previous combined EEG-fNIRS studies performed in healthy individuals. A literature search was conducted using PubMed and PsycINFO on June 28, 2021. Studies involving concurrent EEG and fNIRS measurements in awake and healthy individuals were selected. After screening and eligibility assessment, 96 studies were included in the methodological evaluation. Specifically, we critically reviewed various aspects of participant sampling, experimental design, signal acquisition, data preprocessing, outcome selection, data analysis, and results presentation reported in these studies. Altogether, we identified several notable strengths and limitations of the existing EEG-fNIRS literature. In light of these limitations and the features of combined EEG-fNIRS, recommendations are made to improve and standardize research practices to facilitate the use of combined EEG-fNIRS when studying healthy neurovascular coupling processes and alterations in neurovascular coupling among various populations.

End in view: Joint end-state comfort depends on gaze and extraversion

This study investigated how humans adapt to a partner's movement in a joint pick-and-place task and examined the role of gaze behavior and personality traits in adapting to a partner. Two participants sitting side-by-side transported a cup from one end of a table to the other. The participant sitting on the left (the agent) moved the cup to an intermediate position from where the participant sitting on the right (the partner) transported it to a goal position with varying orientations. Hand, finger, cup movements and gaze behavior were recorded synchronously via motion tracking and portable eye tracking devices. Results showed interindividual differences in the extent of the agents' motor adaptation to the joint action goal, which were accompanied by differences in gaze patterns. The longer agents directed their gaze to a cue indicating the goal orientation, the more they adapted the rotation of the cup's handle when placing it at the intermediate position. Personality trait assessment showed that higher extraverted tendencies to strive for social potency went along with more adaptation to the joint goal. These results indicate that agents who consider their partner's end-state comfort use their gaze to gather more information about the joint action goal compared to agents who do not. Moreover, the disposition to enjoy leadership and make decisions in interpersonal situations seems to play a role in determining who adapts to a partner's task in joint action.

Inter-brain amplitude correlation differentiates cooperation from competition in a motion-sensing sports game

Cooperation and competition are two basic modes of human interaction. Their underlying neural mechanisms, especially from an interpersonal perspective, have not been fully explored. Using the electroencephalograph-based hyperscanning technique, the present study investigated the neural correlates of both cooperation and competition within the same ecological paradigm using a classic motion-sensing tennis game. Both the inter-brain coupling (the inter-brain amplitude correlation and inter-brain phase-locking) and the intra-brain spectral power were analyzed. Only the inter-brain amplitude correlation showed a significant difference between cooperation and competition, with different spatial patterns at theta, alpha and beta frequency bands. Further inspection revealed distinct inter-brain coupling patterns for cooperation and competition; cooperation elicited positive inter-brain amplitude correlation at the delta and theta bands in extensive brain regions, while competition was associated with negative occipital inter-brain amplitude correlation at the alpha and beta bands. These findings add to our knowledge of the neural mechanisms of cooperation and competition and suggest the significance of adopting an inter-brain perspective in exploring the neural underpinnings of social interaction in ecological contexts.

The Effect of Social Perspective-Taking on Interpersonal Trust Under the Cooperative and Competitive Contexts: The Mediating Role of Benevolence

Purpose

Several studies have demonstrated that perspective-taking can foster interpersonal trust. However, few studies have explored the effect of social perspective-taking on interpersonal trust under a specific social context and its internal mechanism. The present study explored the effect of social perspective-taking on interpersonal trust and further examined this interaction under two different social contexts: a cooperative vs a competitive context. We also explored why social perspective-taking fostered interpersonal trust.

Methods

Study 1 (N = 45) was conducted using a within-subjects design in which participants were asked to read the dilemmas of two partners under two conditions (social perspective-taking vs objective focus) and complete the trust game after each reading. In Study 2 (N = 135), we manipulated the social context by a word memorization task to explore the effect of social perspective-taking on interpersonal trust under different contexts (competitive vs cooperative). In Study 3, we examined benevolence as a mediator in the relationship between social perspective-taking and interpersonal trust.

Results

Study 1 showed that interpersonal trust under the social perspective-taking condition was significantly higher than interpersonal trust under the objective focus condition. Study 2 showed that under the cooperative context, participants under the social perspective-taking condition invested more money to another partner than those under the objective focus condition. However, under the competitive context, the results were the opposite. Study 3 demonstrated that benevolence mediated the relationship between social perspective-taking and interpersonal trust in both cooperative and competitive contexts.

Conclusion

Social perspective-taking could improve interpersonal trust under a cooperative context, while the degree of interpersonal trust decreases under a competitive context. Moreover, social perspective-taking could influence the perception of benevolence and thereby enhance or diminish interpersonal trust.

The effect of interbrain synchronization in gesture observation: A fNIRS study

INTRODUCTION

Gestures characterize individuals' nonverbal communicative exchanges, taking on different functions. Several types of research in the neuroscientific field have been interested in the investigation of the neural correlates underlying the observation and implementation of different gestures categories. In particular, different studies have focused on the neural correlates underlying gestures observation, emphasizing the presence of mirroring mechanisms in specific brain areas, which appear to be involved in gesture observation and planning mechanisms.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Specifically, the present study aimed to investigate the neural mechanisms, through the use of functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), underlying the observation of affective, social, and informative gestures with positive and negative valence in individuals' dyads composed by encoder and decoder. The variations of oxygenated (O2Hb) and deoxygenated (HHb) hemoglobin concentrations of both individuals were collected simultaneously through the use of hyperscanning paradigm, allowing the recording of brain responsiveness and interbrain connectivity.

RESULTS

The results showed a different brain activation and an increase of interbrain connectivity according to the type of gestures observed, with a significant increase of O2Hb brain responsiveness and interbrain connectivity and a decrease of HHb brain responsiveness for affective gestures in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and for social gestures in the superior frontal gyrus (SFG). Furthermore, concerning the valence of the observed gestures, an increase of O2Hb brain activity and interbrain connectivity was observed in the left DLPFC for positive affective gestures compared to negative ones.

CONCLUSION

In conclusion, the present study showed different brain responses underlying the observation of different types of positive and negative gestures. Moreover, interbrain connectivity calculation allowed us to underline the presence of mirroring mechanisms involved in gesture-specific frontal regions during gestures observation and action planning.

The "gift effect" on functional brain connectivity. Inter-brain synchronization when prosocial behavior is in action

The gift exchange represents a moment that characterizes interpersonal interactions. In particular, research in psychological and neuroscientific fields aimed to observe the social function of gift exchange. Specifically, the present study aimed to investigate the effects of prosocial behavior, experienced during gift exchange, on individuals’ cognitive performance and brain activity. To this aim, behavioral performance and neural activity of 15 dyads of participants, with a consolidated friendship, were collected during the execution of an attentional cooperative task before or after a gift exchange. Individuals’ brain activity was recorded through the use of Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) in hyperscanning. Results showed an increase of perceived cooperation and cognitive performance, in terms of accuracy (ACC), after gift exchange. The increase of interpersonal tuning and cooperation was also shown by neural activity with an increase of oxygenated hemoglobin (O2Hb) intra-brain and inter-brain connectivity in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) following the gift exchange. Moreover, from ConIndex analysis emerged an increase of inter-brain connectivity compared to intra-brain in DLPFC area. The present study, therefore, highlights how prosocial behavior can have positive effects on cognitive performance improvement and interpersonal relationships and neural coordination strengthen, increasing intra and inter-brain connectivity mechanisms.

Social frame and tax compliance modulate electrophysiological and autonomic responses following tax-related decisions

Given the intrinsic complexity of cognitive and affective processes affecting how people reason about taxes and their decisions to be compliant with such social duty, we aimed at exploring those latent processes by combining the analysis of their central and peripheral physiological correlates. We asked participants to make realistic economic decisions concerning tax-payment and manipulated the social vs. individual decisional frame. In addition, we took into account the potential role of tax-compliance trait. Thirty self-employed professionals took part in the study and completed a public good game while their autonomic (skin conductance – SC – and heart rate – HR) and neural brain (electroencephalography – EEG) activities were recorded. The analysis of physiological responses during the feedback phase – where participants could be presented or not with a fiscal audit – highlighted: (i) increased tonic SC levels and theta activity in the social condition than in the individual one; (ii) increased HR values when a fiscal audit did not take place, especially in participants who presented an enforced tax-compliance trait. Present findings support the idea that classic economic theories of tax behaviour developed under the assumption that taxpayers act as rational and individualist agents do not provide a comprehensive account for the decision-making process. They add to available evidence highlighting the contribution of psychological and social-affective variables to individuals’ decision-making processes to pay or evade taxes and to their appraisal of the consequences of such choice, as suggested by the ‘slippery slope’ framework.

Functional EEG connectivity during competition

Background

Social behavior and interactions pervasively shape and influence our lives and relationships. Competition, in particular, has become a core topic in social neuroscience since it stresses the relevance and salience of social comparison processes between the inter-agents that are involved in a common task. The majority of studies, however, investigated such kind of social interaction via one-person individual paradigms, thus not taking into account relevant information concerning interdependent participants’ behavioral and neural responses. In the present study, dyads of volunteers participated in a hyperscanning paradigm and competed in a computerized attention task while their electrophysiological (EEG) activity and performance were monitored and recorded. Behavioral data and inter-brain coupling measures based on EEG frequency data were then computed and compared across different experimental conditions: a control condition (individual task, t0), a first competitive condition (pre-feedback condition, t1), and a second competitive condition following a positive reinforcing feedback (post-feedback condition, t2).

Results

Results showed that during competitive tasks participants’ performance was improved with respect to control condition (reduced response times and error rates), with a further specific improvement after receiving a reinforcing feedback. Concurrently, we observed a reduction of inter-brain functional connectivity (primarily involving bilateral prefrontal areas) for slower EEG frequency bands (delta and theta). Finally, correlation analyses highlighted a significant association between cognitive performance and inter-brain connectivity measures.

Conclusions

The present results may help identifying specific patterns of behavioral and inter-brain coupling measures associated to competition and processing of social reinforcements.

Affective Synchrony and Autonomic Coupling during Cooperation: A Hyperscanning Study

Previous research highlighted that during social interactions people shape each other's emotional states by resonance mechanisms and synchronized autonomic patterns. Starting from the idea that joint actions create shared emotional experiences, in the present study a social bond was experimentally induced by making subjects cooperate with each other. Participants' autonomic system activity (electrodermal: skin conductance level and response: SCL, SCR; cardiovascular indices: heart rate: HR) was continuously monitored during an attentional couple game. The cooperative motivation was induced by presenting feedback which reinforced the positive outcomes of the intersubjective exchange. 24 participants coupled in 12 dyads were recruited. Intrasubject analyses revealed higher HR in the first part of the task, connoted by increased cognitive demand and arousing social dynamic, while intersubject analysis showed increased synchrony in electrodermal activity after the feedback. Such results encourage the use of hyperscanning techniques to assess emotional coupling in ecological and real-time paradigms.