Neurons in corresponding locations of the different brains fire at the same time, creating matching patterns, like dancers moving together. Auditory and visual areas respond to shape, sound and movement in similar ways, whereas higher-order brain areas seem to behave similarly during more challenging tasks such as making meaning out of something seen or heard. The experience of "being on the same wavelength" as another person is real, and it is visible in the activity of the brain.For example, she tells us, "Couples exhibit higher degrees of brain synchrony than nonromantic pairs, as do close friends compared with more distant acquaintances." There's a name for the study of such moments: collective neuroscience.
LYDIA DENWORTH, "BRAIN WAVES SYNCHRONIZE WHEN PEOPLE INTERACT," SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, JULY 1, 2023
Not a New Discovery
Synchrony is not a brand new discovery but methods of tracking it (hyperscanning) have become more innovative in the last decade. The prospect of using synchrony to better track and understand success or failure in learning environments is attracting neuroscientists to the field. One study from the Basque research centre BCBL using electroencephalography (EEG) reported,
Thus, the rhythms of the brainwaves corresponding to the speaker and the listener adjust according to the physical properties of the sound of the verbal messages expressed in a conversation. This creates a connection between the two brains, which begin to work together towards a common goal: communication.More Willing to Help
For the purposes of the study, the BCBL researchers used 15 dyads of people of the same sex, complete strangers to each other, separated by a folding screen. This ensured that the connection generated was truly thanks to the communication established.
Following a script, the dyads held a general conversation and took turns playing the roles of speaker and listener.
SINC. "OUR BRAINS SYNCHRONIZE DURING A CONVERSATION.", 20 JULY 2017. THE PAPER IS OPEN ACCESS.
There is some evidence that synchrony makes people more willing to help each other. According to a 2017 study of synchrony:
People tend to be more prosocial after synchronizing behaviors with others, yet the underlying neural mechanisms are rarely known. In this study, participant dyads performed either a coordination task or an independence task, with their brain activations recorded via the functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning technique. Participant dyads in the coordination group showed higher synchronized behaviors and greater subsequent inclination to help each other than those in the independence group, indicating the prosocial effect of interpersonal synchrony.One 2010 Italian study found that the brain waves of members of a team lined up with each other but not with those of members of the opposing team:
THE PAPER IS OPEN ACCESS.
Meanwhile in the Classroom
Synchrony was found to predict engagement in classrooms too, as Denworth noted in a 2019 article:
In a series of studies in New York City high schools, a team of New York University researchers including Poeppel, Suzanne Dikker and Ido Davidesco took repeated EEG recordings from every student in a biology class over the course of a semester. They found that students' brainwaves are more in sync with each other when they are more engaged in class. Brain-to-brain synchrony also reflects how much students like each other and the teacher — closer relationships lead to more synchronization. Their current study is examining whether levels of brain synchrony during class predict retention of material learned. "I think what we're doing is very useful," Poeppel says. "How [do we] use these techniques in a targeted way for STEM learning?"Humans aren't the only life forms that synchronize. Bats and mice have also been observed to synchronize their brains about matters that mutually concern them. One interesting detail researchers have found is that when one mouse is dominant and another submissive, the level of synchrony was higher. However, it's different with bats, where the greatest synchrony occurred among bats that more frequently clustered together.
LYDIA DENWORTH, "'HYPERSCANS' SHOW HOW BRAINS SYNC AS PEOPLE INTERACT," SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, APRIL 10, 2019. THE PAPER IS OPEN ACCESS.
Denyse O'Leary is a freelance journalist based in Victoria, Canada. Specializing in faith and science issues, she is co-author, with neuroscientist Mario Beauregard, of The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul; and with neurosurgeon Michael Egnor of the forthcoming The Human Soul: What Neuroscience Shows Us about the Brain, the Mind, and the Difference Between the Two (Worthy, 2025). She received her degree in honors English language and literature.
Reader Comments
What happens at a rock concert? Collective brain synchronization.
What was the DARPA program "Next Generation Social Sciences" studying? Collective identity, how to create it and how to manipulate it. [Link]
What does it mean? There is scientific research that is secret especially concerning National Security.
Patrick Flanagan, who said he could prove he was a reincarnation of Tesla, invented the Neurophone which synchronizes the left and right hemispheres of the brain. He was denied a patent for this based on National Security. He passed away and I don't know the details.
After all, what did the Pavlov experiments on dogs demonstrate? Dogs can be taught to respond with dopamine to a stimulus which led to a behavior.
What does Harari think of humanity? We are "hackable animals".
TV news are very similiar, I think.
Because of that - and the highly annoying ads - I ditched TV and radio years ago, and mostly listen to "canned music". As I realized some while ago, mostly without lyrics ... If I remember correctly, Pavlov did what most dog owners do - repeatedly accompany to a dog's action with another action. Until the dog subconsciously associates one with another.
In Pavlov's case (supposedly) the light with food. In the common dog owners case, shitting on the master's couch with a beating ... I consider this mindless make-believe, an attempt on brainwashing us.
That nails that stick out and that our scum-elites want to hammer first.
We no longer sing things into place as hints in folklore descriptions. Sing to nature sing while sitting on stones to the birds, animals and whatever naturally connects and synchronized within and without in the environment and to others. Now everything talents and creative is funnel away from nature.
You don't want to synchy synchronize with just anyone! Fools and glads wrong turns and misunderstandings.
Enjoying life with others Is a part of being human. However people make synchronizing a way of life then make intimate. Soon become involuntary then you find yourself in someone else happens that parts of yourself tapper off into someone else or vice versa.