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Updated: Jan 21, 2026
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Measuring Neural and Behavioral Activity During Ongoing Computerized Social Interactions: An Examination of Event-Related Brain Potentials
Published on: November 15, 2014
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Recording brain activity can function as an implied social presence and alter neural connectivity
Benjamin O Turner1, Alan Kingstone2, Evan F Risko3
1Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Cognitive Neuroscience
|August 8, 2019
Summary
Knowing that brain activity is monitored by functional MRI (fMRI) changes brain connectivity. This social presence effect impacts neural activity in networks related to attention and self-processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Social Neuroscience
Background:
- Individuals exhibit altered behavior when aware of being observed (social presence).
- The impact of social presence on brain activity, particularly with neuroimaging technology, remains largely unexplored.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if social presence, specifically awareness of functional MRI (fMRI) monitoring, influences neural activity.
- To examine the effects of implied social presence on brain functional connectivity.
Main Methods:
- Participants were informed about the fMRI's capability to detect thought-related brain activity.
- Functional connectivity was analyzed within and between key brain networks.
Main Results:
- Awareness of fMRI monitoring induced significant changes in functional connectivity.
- Altered connectivity was observed in networks associated with executive control, attention, self-relevant processing, social cognition, and theory of mind.
Conclusions:
- An implied social presence, even through non-interactive brain monitoring, can modulate brain functional connectivity.
- This finding highlights a potential methodological confound in brain imaging research and offers a novel manipulation for studying social attention.
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