Deception Affects Interbrain Electroencephalographic and Autonomic Synchronization Within a Dyad: A Hyperscanning...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychology
• Forensic Science

Background:

• Deception research traditionally focuses on individual neurophysiology.
• Deception is an interpersonal interaction requiring cognitive resources for evaluation.
• Limited understanding exists on the synchronized neural and physiological dynamics between deceiver and deceived.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate interbrain synchronization (IBS) and heart rate synchrony between an interviewer and interviewee during deception and truth-telling.
• To explore the role of two-person neuroscience in understanding deception dynamics.
• To identify neurophysiological markers for deception detection.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an ecological mock crime experiment.
• Employed hyperscanning techniques to measure interbrain synchronization (IBS) in theta and alpha bands.
• Measured heart rate synchrony in the high-frequency band.
• Compared a deception group (DG) with a non-deception group (NDG).

Main Results:

• The deception group (DG) showed higher interbrain synchronization (IBS) in the theta band before the interview and in the alpha band during the interview.
• The DG exhibited decreased heart rate synchrony in the high-frequency band compared to the non-deception group (NDG).
• Increased IBS in the DG was particularly linked to the left temporal area of the interviewee.

Conclusions:

• Deceptive interactions exhibit distinct patterns of interbrain synchronization (IBS) and heart rate synchrony.
• Studying deception from a two-person neuroscience perspective is crucial.
• Findings suggest integrating hyperscanning with lie-detection methods can improve the identification of deception markers.