Circling Science

Brain-to-Brain Synchrony during Naturalistic Social Interactions

Sivan Kinreich, Amir Djalovski, Lior Kraus, Yoram Louzoun and Ruth Feldman · 2017

Evidence
Observational study
Kind
Journal article
peer-reviewed
Method
EEG from both partners at once (hyperscanning) during a free conversation and at rest, with gaze and affect coded
Sample
104 adults in 52 woman–man pairs, cohabiting couples or strangers
Published
Scientific Reports, 7, 17060

Mechanisms

Studies a process a circle relies on, such as disclosure or synchrony, wherever it happens.

EEG from both partners during a free conversation: couples’ brain activity fell into sync and strangers’ did not, and couples’ synchrony peaked during social gaze and shared positive feeling, whatever they talked about.

What it doesn’t show

Couples and strangers were compared, not assigned, so the difference could come from anything else that sets couples apart. Each pair was recorded in one lab conversation, every pair was a woman and a man, and the study does not show what synchrony does for a relationship.

Summary based on the abstract and the full text’s methods and results.

Directions that build on it

  1. Brains in a circle

    Builds on 7 works · 4 funding routes

    Does brain activity fall into step across a circle in the moments participants feel met, beyond what shared speech and attention explain?

Links

Cite

Kinreich, S., Djalovski, A., Kraus, L., Louzoun, Y., & Feldman, R. (2017). Brain-to-Brain Synchrony during Naturalistic Social Interactions. Scientific Reports, 7, 17060. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-17339-5