Herding Brains: A Core Neural Mechanism for Social Alignment
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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions
Published on: July 6, 2011
Simone G Shamay-Tsoory1, Nira Saporta1, Inbar Z Marton-Alper1
1Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
Abstract:
When we clap our hands in synchrony, feel the sadness of a friend, or match our attitudes to peer norms, we align our behavior with others. We propose here a model that views synchronized movement, emotional contagion, and social conformity as interrelated processes that rely on shared neural networks. Building on the predictive coding framework, we suggest that social alignment is mediated by a three-component feedback loop - an error-monitoring system that reacts to misalignment, an alignment system, and a reward system that is activated when alignment is achieved. We describe herding-related syndromes (autism, loneliness) and call for innovative research to investigate the links between the levels of alignment.
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