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.
Little is known about the neurocognitive underpinnings of forming social connections. In this study, we tested whether default mode network (DMN) inter-brain synchrony (which prior work has linked to interpersonal alignment, or 'seeing eye-to-eye') predicts feelings of connection during conversations. Seventy pairs of strangers engaged in shallow or deep conversations while brain activity was...