Sharing the social world via intersubject neural synchronisation.
Lauri Nummenmaa, Juha M Lahnakoski, Enrico Glerean
Current Opinion in Psychology December 2018 DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2018.02.021 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key findings | Argues that similarity of brain activity across individuals can, under certain conditions, serve as an index of the similarity of their subjective states of consciousness, and that model-free intersubject synchrony analyses can therefore be used to investigate the brain basis of mutual understanding and cooperation. The authors also discuss methodological advances and limitations of these synchrony-based approaches. |
Abstract
Sociability and capability of shared mental states are hallmarks of the human species, and pursuing shared goals oftentimes requires coordinating both behaviour and mental states. Here we review recent work using indices of intersubject neural synchronisation for measuring similarity of mental states across individuals. We discuss the methodological advances and limitations in the analyses based on intersubject synchrony, and discuss how these kinds of model-free analysis techniques enable the investigation of the brain basis of complex social processes. We argue that similarity of brain activity across individuals can be used, under certain conditions, to index the similarity of their subjective states of consciousness, and thus be used for investigating brain basis of mutual understanding and cooperation.
Citations in the library
Cited by 3
- The default mode network: where the idiosyncratic self meets the shared social world Nature Reviews Neuroscience January 22, 2021
- Socializing Sensorimotor Contingencies. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience 2021
- Eigenmodes of the deep unconscious: the neuropsychology of Jungian archetypes and psychedelic experience. Neuroscience of Consciousness October 18, 2025