Brains in interaction

PhD ceremony: Ms. M. Schippers, 16.15 uur, Academiegebouw, Broerstraat 5, Groningen

Title: Brains in interaction

Promotor(s): prof. C. Keysers

Faculty: Medical Sciences

People involved in social interaction can be thought of as being temporarily connected. An experiment in which brain activity was measured while two people were engaged in the social communication game Charades was used to investigate which brain networks are involved. Results showed that the mirror system is highly involved, while the main mentalizing area did not show involvement. Furthermore, a connectivity analysis that is usually applied within one brain was extended to a between-brains analysis. The results showed that two brains in social interaction resonate, which means that brain activity of one person (the observer) closely follows the brain activity of the other person (the gesturer). It is recommended to include both brains in the study of the social brain, because otherwise specific interactions cannot be found.