Department of Developmental Psychology, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany.
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany.
Sci Rep. 2022 Jul 28;12(1):12967. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-16956-z.
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.
作为社交物种的一员，我们大部分时间都在与他人互动。在互动中，我们倾向于相互调整自己的行为和大脑反应，以更有效地进行沟通。在石头剪刀布的半计算机化版本中，我们研究了人们在对他人的行为做出明确预测时是否会表现出增强的人际神经同步。在四个实验条件下，我们使用功能近红外光谱 (fNIRS) 超扫描方法测量了动态大脑活动。结果表明，与参与者独自玩游戏相比，当他们像在现实生活中那样一起玩游戏时，人际神经同步性增强了。当参与者对他人的行为做出明确预测时，我们没有发现神经同步性增加的证据。因此，神经同步性可能取决于相互的自然互动，而不是明确的预测策略。这项研究很重要，因为它检验了神经同步的一个假定功能，即促进预测。
