Making new connections: An fNIRS machine learning classification study of inter-brain synchrony in the default mode network.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience June 9, 2026 Grace Qiyuan Miao, Ian J Lieberman, Ashley Binnquist et al.
During deep conversations, pairs of strangers feel more socially connected than during shallow ones, and this feeling is linked to increased synchrony in the default mode network (DMN) of their brains, especially in the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ). The study measured brain activity with functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) in 70 stranger dyads. DMN synchrony, particularly in the TPJ, appears to help strangers 'see eye-to-eye' and feel connected during face-to-face interactions.