Interactional synchrony: signals, mechanisms and benefits

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The idea that external rhythms synchronize attention cross-modally has attracted much interest and scientific inquiry. Yet, whether associated attentional modulations are indeed rhythmical in that they spring from and map onto an underlying meter has not been clearly established. Here we tested this idea while addressing the shortcomings of previous work associated with confounding (i) metricality and regularity, (ii) rhythmic and temporal expectations, or (iii) global and local temporal effects. We designed sound sequences that varied orthogonally (high/low) in metricality and regularity and presented them as task-irrelevant auditory background in four separate blocks. The participants’ task was to detect rare visual targets occurring at a silent metrically aligned or misaligned temporal position. We found that target timing was irrelevant for reaction times and visual event-related potentials. High background regularity and to a lesser extent metricality facilitated target processing across metrically aligned and misaligned positions. Additionally, high regularity modulated auditory background frequencies in the EEG recorded over occipital cortex. We conclude that external rhythms, rather than synchronizing attention crossmodally, confer general, non-temporal benefits. Their predictability conserves processing resources that then benefit stimulus representations in other modalities.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

“…The idea that, like motor processes, mental processes have a periodicity that can be aligned or entrained by the metrical structure of external rhythms has gained much popularity in the past few decades ( Calderone et al., 2014 ; Schirmer et al., 2016b ; Lakatos et al., 2019 ; Obleser and Kayser, 2019 ; Hoehl et al. , 2020 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Musical rhythm effects on visual attention are non-rhythmical: evidence against metrical entrainment

Schirmer

Wijaya

Chiu

et al. 2020

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“…Activation in temporo-parietal areas and particularly the TPJ is associated with the mentalizing system, which is implicated in both children and adults when trying to understand others’ mental states ( Frith and Frith, 2006 ; Koster-Hale and Saxe, 2013 ). A recently presented framework on interactional synchrony by Hoehl et al. (2020 ) posits that the human brain constantly tracks temporal regularities in sensory input (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neural synchrony in mother–child conversation: Exploring the role of conversation patterns

Nguyen

Schleihauf

Kayhan

et al. 2020

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109

Conversations are an essential form of communication in daily family life. Specific patterns of caregiver-child conversations have been linked to children’s socio-cognitive development and child relationship quality beyond the immediate family environment. Recently, interpersonal neural synchronization has been proposed as a neural mechanism supporting conversation. Here, we present a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning study looking at the temporal dynamics of neural synchrony during mother-child conversation. Preschoolers (20 boys and 20 girls, M age 5, 07 years) and their mothers (M age 36.37 years) were tested simultaneously with fNIRS hyperscanning while engaging in a free verbal conversation lasting for four minutes. Neural synchrony (using wavelet transform coherence analysis) was assessed over time. Furthermore, each conversational turn was coded for conversation patterns comprising turn-taking, relevance, contingency, and intrusiveness. Results from linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that turn-taking, but not relevance, contingency, or intrusiveness predicted neural synchronization during the conversation over time. Results are discussed to point out possible variables affecting parent-child conversation quality and the potential functional role of interpersonal neural synchronization for parent-child conversation.

“…The temporal resolution of the BOLD signal is limited by the hemodynamic response, whose major temporal frequency resides in the very low range (<0.1 Hz). In contrast, EEG and physiological studies often measure a much higher frequency range and use the cyclic signal’s coherent phase association to measure synchronization ( Hoehl et al , in press , SCAN ).…”

Section: Characteristics Of Fmri Hyperscanningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hyperscanning has been mostly used for investigating interbrain synchrony, a temporally and spatially symmetric brain activation in two or more individuals across time ( Hoehl et al , in press ). However, limiting the focus to interbrain synchrony may result in missing other ways individuals’ brains might relate to one another during interactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond synchrony: the capacity of fMRI hyperscanning for the study of human social interaction

Misaki

Kerr

Ratliff

et al. 2020

Hyperscanning – simultaneous brain scanning of two or more individuals – holds great promise in elucidating the neurobiological underpinnings of social cognitive functions. This article focuses on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) hyperscanning and identifies promising targets for studying the neuroscience of social interaction with fMRI hyperscanning. Specifically, we present applications of fMRI hyperscanning in the study of social interaction along with promising analysis approaches for fMRI hyperscanning, with its high spatial and low temporal resolution. We first review fMRI hyperscanning studies in social neuroscience and evaluate the premise of using this costly neuroimaging paradigm. Many second-person social neuroscience studies are possible without fMRI hyperscanning. However, certain fundamental aspects of social cognition in real-life social interactions, including different roles of interactors, shared intention emerging through interaction, and history of interaction, can be addressed only with hyperscanning. We argue that these fundamental aspects have not often been investigated in fMRI hyperscanning studies. We then discuss the implication of the signal coupling found in fMRI hyperscanning and consider analysis approaches that make fair use of it. With fMRI hyperscanning, we can explore not only synchronous brain activations, but whole-brain asymmetric activation patterns with a lagged association between interacting individuals.