Revealing the neurobiology underlying interpersonal neural synchronization with multimodal data fusion

• Main Authors: Lotter, Leon D., Kohl, Simon H., Gerloff, Christian, Bell, Laura, Niephaus, Alexandra, Kruppa, Jana A., Dukart, Juergen, Schulte-Rüther, Martin, Reindl, Vanessa, Konrad, Kerstin
• Other Authors: School of Social Sciences
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2023
• Subjects: Social sciences::Psychology; Interpersonal Neural Synchronization; Hyperscanning
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/172168
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Humans synchronize with one another to foster successful interactions. Here, we use a multimodal data fusion approach with the aim of elucidating the neurobiological mechanisms by which interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) occurs. Our meta-analysis of 22 functional magnetic resonance imaging and 69 near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning experiments (740 and 3721 subjects) revealed robust brain regional correlates of INS in the right temporoparietal junction and left ventral prefrontal cortex. Integrating this meta-analytic information with public databases, biobehavioral and brain-functional association analyses suggested that INS involves sensory-integrative hubs with functional connections to mentalizing and attention networks. On the molecular and genetic levels, we found INS to be associated with GABAergic neurotransmission and layer IV/V neuronal circuits, protracted developmental gene expression patterns, and disorders of neurodevelopment. Although limited by the indirect nature of phenotypic-molecular association analyses, our findings generate new testable hypotheses on the neurobiological basis of INS.