Acconito Carlotta, Rovelli Katia, Saquella Federica, Balconi Michela
International research center for Cognitive Applied Neuroscience (IrcCAN), Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy.
Research Unit in Affective and Social Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123, Milan, Italy.
Exp Brain Res. 2025 May 21;243(6):151. doi: 10.1007/s00221-025-07093-w.
In negotiation, individuals collaborate to achieve a shared goal and reach a mutual agreement by understanding their partner's intentions and adapting to them. Unlike most social cognition studies that investigate brain activity in individuals separately, this study employed an innovative hyperscanning approach, which is able to explore the inter-brain synchronization during negotiation. 26 students, divided into 13 dyads, participated in a negotiation decision-making task, requiring convergence on a shared course of action. The interaction was segmented offline into three phases: opener (sharing of individual opinions), central (negotiation), and final phase (shared decision). Electrophysiological (EEG delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma bands) and hemodynamic (oxygenated-OHb and deoxygenated-HHb hemoglobin) data were collected. Higher HHb levels were observed during the central phase compared to the final phase, suggesting a relative decrease in frontal activation, potentially due to a shift in cognitive processing toward temporoparietal regions, as indicated by EEG findings. Increased delta, theta, and alpha activity was reported in the frontal area, suggesting the engagement of emotional and motivational systems as well as cortical resources for information processing. Finally, beta and gamma bands showed higher activity in the temporo-central and parieto-occipital areas, indicating the activation of perspective-taking. This study highlights how hyperscanning reveals the neural mechanisms of negotiation, where emotional, cognitive, and perspective-taking processes converge.
在谈判中，个体通过理解对方意图并做出调整来共同协作，以实现共同目标并达成相互协议。与大多数单独研究个体大脑活动的社会认知研究不同，本研究采用了一种创新的超扫描方法，该方法能够探究谈判过程中的大脑间同步性。26名学生被分成13个二人组，参与了一项谈判决策任务，要求就共同的行动方案达成一致。互动过程在离线状态下被分为三个阶段：开场阶段（分享个人观点）、核心阶段（谈判）和最后阶段（共同决策）。收集了电生理数据（脑电图的δ、θ、α、β和γ波段）和血液动力学数据（氧合血红蛋白-OHb和脱氧血红蛋白-HHb）。与最后阶段相比，核心阶段观察到更高的HHb水平，这表明额叶激活相对减少，可能是由于认知加工向颞顶叶区域转移，脑电图结果也表明了这一点。额叶区域报告的δ、θ和α活动增加，表明情绪和动机系统以及用于信息处理的皮质资源参与其中。最后，β和γ波段在颞中区域和顶枕区域显示出更高的活动，表明采取视角的激活。这项研究突出了超扫描如何揭示谈判的神经机制，即情绪、认知和采取视角的过程在此汇聚。
