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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
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Inter-Brain Synchrony in Open-Ended Collaborative Learning: An fNIRS-Hyperscanning Study
Published on: July 21, 2021
Approach motivation sharpens shared neural processing: dissociable beta and alpha synchrony
Yael Caspi1, Barak Atia1, Abraham Goldstein1
1Department of Psychology and Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan 52900, Israel.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience
|July 21, 2026
Summary
Listener motivation and narrative emotion influence brain synchrony during emotional storytelling. Individual threat sensitivity further modulates this neural engagement, revealing complex factors in shared emotional processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Psychology
Background:
- Emotional narratives foster shared understanding, but individual differences in motivation's impact on this process are unclear.
- Existing models of emotional communication assume shared processing without fully exploring modulating factors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how a listener's motivational state affects neural synchrony during the comprehension of emotional narratives.
- To explore the interplay between motivation, narrative emotion, and individual traits in shaping shared cognitive-emotional experiences.
Main Methods:
- Magnetoencephalography (MEG) recorded neural activity in 61 participants.
- Participants listened to anger and fear narratives after approach or avoidance motivation induction.
- Source-level inter-subject correlation (ISC) analyzed oscillatory envelopes across seven frequency bands in 72 cortical regions.
Main Results:
- Approach motivation increased beta-band and theta-band inter-subject correlation (ISC), suggesting enhanced predictive engagement.
- Fear narratives elicited higher alpha-band ISC than anger narratives in specific brain regions, indicating distinct sensory-attentional mechanisms.
- Trait behavioral inhibition correlated with reduced neural synchrony, especially during motivational conflict, which sustained shared processing.
Conclusions:
- Shared neural processing of emotional narratives is dynamically shaped by listener motivation, narrative content, and individual threat sensitivity.
- Distinct oscillatory channels mediate the influence of motivation and emotion on neural synchrony.
- Findings support an engagement account of shared processing, highlighting the role of motivational conflict in sustained attention.
