Brains in Harmony: the role of brain-to-brain synchrony in naturalistic social interactions

Brains in Harmony: the role of brain-to-brain synchrony in naturalistic social interactions

Neuroscience research has produced tremendous insight into how the human brain supports dynamic social interactions. Still, laboratory-generated findings do not always straightforwardly generalize to real-world environments. To fill this gap, I collaborate with scientists, artists, and educators to take neuroscience out of the laboratory, into schools, museums, and underserved neighborhoods. We consistently find a relationship between brain-to-brain synchrony and successful social interaction. For example, empathy, joint action, and social motivation predicts synchrony in dyadic interactions, and synchrony among high schoolers is related to classroom social dynamics and student engagement. Taken together, our multidisciplinary approach may provide a potential new avenue to investigate social interactions outside of the laboratory.

Suzanne Dikker (New York University Department of Psychology USA)