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Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Hyperscanning Study in Psychological Counseling

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Cooperation in lovers: An fNIRS-based hyperscanning study.

Yafeng Pan¹, Xiaojun Cheng¹, Zhenxin Zhang²

¹School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.

Human Brain Mapping

|October 5, 2016

Summary

Romantic partners show enhanced interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) during cooperation, with stronger brain activity flow from females to males, refining our understanding of romantic interactions.

Keywords:

cooperation fNIRS hyperscanning interpersonal brain synchronization lovers

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Conducting Hyperscanning Experiments with Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

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Published on: January 19, 2019

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Social Psychology
Relationship Science

Background:

Interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) is crucial for social interaction.
Understanding brain activity during romantic cooperation is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) in lovers during a cooperation task.
To compare IBS and cooperative behavior in lovers versus friends and strangers.

Main Methods:

Used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning to record brain activity in female-male dyads.
Dyads included lovers, friends, and strangers performing a cooperation task.
Analyzed brain synchronization in right frontoparietal regions using Granger causality.

Main Results:

Lover dyads exhibited superior cooperative behavior compared to friend and stranger dyads.
Increased IBS was observed in the right superior frontal cortex of lovers, correlating with task performance.
Granger causality revealed stronger directional synchronization from females to males in lover dyads.

Conclusions:

Romantic partners display unique neural synchrony patterns during cooperation.
Asymmetrical brain synchronization suggests distinct roles for males and females in romantic cooperation.
Findings contribute to a refined theoretical framework for romantic interactions.