Theta band behavioral fluctuations synchronized interpersonally during cooperation

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Behavioral performance in perception exhibits rhythmic fluctuations linked to neural oscillations.
• It remains unclear if complex social interactions, like cooperation, show similar rhythmic behavioral patterns.
• The synchronization of these behavioral rhythms among co-actors is also not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whether behavioral fluctuations in a cooperation context display rhythmic features.
• To determine if these behavioral rhythms synchronize among co-actors in a neurophysiologically relevant manner.
• To explore the relationship between behavioral synchrony and cooperation patterns.

Main Methods:

• Applied a time-resolved approach to analyze behavioral rhythms in a dyadic joint-action task.
• Compared cooperation and competition conditions between 20 male participant pairs.
• Measured behavioral synchrony using phase coherence of behavioral rhythms between dyad members.

Main Results:

• No significant individual behavioral oscillations were detected in the amplitude spectrum.
• Enhanced theta-band phase coherence was observed between co-actors' behavioral rhythms during cooperation versus competition.
• Behavioral synchrony significantly correlated with leader-follower relationships during cooperation.

Conclusions:

• Cooperative behaviors in dyads exhibit synchronized theta-band fluctuations, mirroring interbrain synchrony findings.
• This behavioral synchrony serves as a sensitive predictor of cooperation patterns and social dynamics.
• The study provides a behavioral correlate for neural synchrony in cooperative contexts.