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...
Abstract Successfully making connections with others is crucial to navigating the social world and general well-being, yet little is known about connection formation and its neurocognitive underpinnings. Increasingly, neuroscientists use interpersonal ‘neural synchrony’ within the default mode network (DMN) to measure when two or more people subjectively experience something in similar ways....