Hosted by the School of Psychological Science
Abstract: Recent studies show that when people communicate, their brains synchronize; this process is called interbrain synchronization. The higher the synchrony between two brains, the more effectively they communicate. The interest in how people’s brains synchronize is not new, but we have only recently been able to monitor two or more brains simultaneously, through a technique called hyper scanning. In this talk, I will present evidence from hyper scanning studies that interbrain synchronization increases during mutual eye-contact and explore what is the biological significance of such synchronization. Furthermore, as we move our social interactions online, mutual eye-contact is no longer possible due to the positioning of webcams. Looking at the participant’s eyes on the screen means that your own gaze appears averted. In this talk, I will also present preliminary data from my lab showing what happens to interbrain synchronization during online eye-contact and how the use of an eye-gaze correction device affected online interbrain synchronization and collaborative creativity.