Exploring Brain Synchronicity During Collaboration
Have you ever experienced that magical moment of flow when working with another person towards a common goal? It turns out that this feeling of being ‘in sync’ with your collaborator may have a neurological basis, according to new research.
Humans are inherently social beings, relying on collaboration for various aspects of life, from communication and rhythmic activities to parenting and work. The saying ‘teamwork makes the dream work’ holds true in many scenarios.
Collaboration involves following instructions and sharing modes of thinking, which can be observed in real-time through measures of brain activity when two individuals work together on a task.
Research Study
Cognitive neuroscientist Denise Moerel from Western Sydney University conducted a study to investigate the neurological synchronicity that occurs during collaborative tasks. The study involved 24 teams, each consisting of a pair of participants.
Participants were tasked with sorting shapes based on various visual attributes like contrast and pattern size. They had to work together to categorize the shapes into specific groups, relying on shared decision-making and communication.
During the experiment, the pairs first discussed and agreed on the rules for sorting shapes. They then proceeded to work back-to-back, without verbal communication, while looking at a shared workspace on a computer screen. Electroencephalograms (EEGs) were used to monitor their brain activity during this collaborative phase.
Findings
The results showed that within the initial milliseconds of a shape appearing, all participants exhibited similar brain activity, indicating a shared focus on the task. However, as time progressed, the brain activity diverged across individuals but remained aligned within pairs.
Interestingly, the alignment of brain activity was significantly stronger in real pairs who had collaborated before, compared to randomly matched pseudo-pairs. This suggests that the synchronicity in brain activity was not solely due to the task itself but was enhanced by the collaborative relationship between teammates.
Implications
The study highlights the role of social interactions in shaping neural representations in the human brain. Understanding how brains synchronize during collaboration could have implications for group dynamics, communication, and decision-making processes.
This research, published in PLOS Biology, provides valuable insights into the intricate interplay between social connection and brain activity during collaborative tasks.
