scholarly journals Prior physical synchrony enhances rapport and inter-brain synchronization during subsequent educational communication

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takayuki Nozawa ◽  
Kohei Sakaki ◽  
Shigeyuki Ikeda ◽  
Hyeonjeong Jeong ◽  
Shohei Yamazaki ◽  
...  

AbstractPhysical synchrony has been suggested to have positive effects on not only concurrent but also subsequent communication, but the underlying neural processes are unclear. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning, we tested the effects of preceding physical synchrony on subsequent dyadic teaching-learning communication. Thirty-two pairs of participants performed two experimental sessions. In each session, they underwent a rhythmic arm movement block with synchronous or asynchronous conditions, and then taught/learned unknown words to/from each other according to a given scenario. Neural activities in their medial and left lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) were measured and inter-brain synchronization (IBS) during the teaching-learning blocks was evaluated. Participants rated their subjective rapport during the teaching-learning blocks, and took a word memory test. The analyses revealed that (1) prior physical synchrony enhanced teacher-learner rapport; (2) prior physical synchrony also enhanced IBS in the lateral PFC; and (3) IBS changes correlated positively with rapport changes. Physical synchrony did however not affect word memory performance. These results suggest that IBS can be useful to measure the effects of social-bonding facilitation activities for educational communication.

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (8) ◽  
pp. 3457-3470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelong Lu ◽  
Hua Xue ◽  
Takayuki Nozawa ◽  
Ning Hao

Abstract This study investigated how cooperative and competitive interaction modes affect the group creative performance. The participants were recruited as dyads to solve 2 problems either demanding divergent thinking (alternative uses task, AUT) or not (object characteristic task, OCT). The dyads solved 1 of the 2 problems in the cooperative mode and the other in the competitive mode. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning was used to record their neural activities in the prefrontal and right temporal–parietal junction (r-TPJ) regions. Results revealed the dyads showed higher AUT fluency, AUT originality, OCT fluency, and cooperation level in the cooperative mode than in the competitive mode. The fNIRS data revealed increased (task-baseline) interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (r-DLPFC) and r-TPJ, only for dyads in the AUT/cooperation condition. In both r-DLPFC and r-TPJ, the IBS of dyads in the AUT/cooperation condition was stronger than in the AUT/competition and OCT/cooperation. Moreover, a stronger IBS was evoked between the regions in prefrontal and posterior temporal regions in the AUT/cooperation condition, as compared with the competition mode. These findings suggest that enhanced IBS may underlie the positive effects of cooperation as compared with the competition in terms of group creativity.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Agnes S. Chan ◽  
Tsz-lok Lee ◽  
Michael R. Hamblin ◽  
Mei-chun Cheung

Background: Recent studies of photobiomodulation (PBM) in patients with cognitive or psychological disorders (including traumatic brain injury, stroke, and dementia) have yielded some encouraging results. Objective: In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of a single stimulation on memory in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Methods: After PBM, hemodynamic changes, as a measure of functional brain activity, were evaluated using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Eighteen subjects who met the criteria of MCI were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. A single real or sham PBM session was administered to the forehead of each patient in the experimental and control groups, respectively. All subjects performed a visual memory span test before and after the stimulation, and their hemodynamic responses during the tasks were measured using fNIRS. Results: The results showed that among the MCI subjects, only those who received PBM, but not those who received the sham stimulation, demonstrated significant improvement in the visual memory performance and a reduction in the hemodynamic response during the tasks. Conclusion: These findings suggest that PBM may reduce the cognitive efforts needed to complete tasks that require high memory loads, and thus improve the cognitive performance of individuals with MCI.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. e46210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anouk Vermeij ◽  
Arenda H. E. A. van Beek ◽  
Marcel G. M. Olde Rikkert ◽  
Jurgen A. H. R. Claassen ◽  
Roy P. C. Kessels

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Özge Vural ◽  
Erol Yıldırım

Abstract Depression is a complex disorder that can be caused by psychosocial and biological conditions and it not only effects mood disorders, but also cognitive functions such as memory, decision making, psychomotor speed and attention. As a result of the studies, some findings indicate that depressed individuals perform worse in neuropsychological tests than healthy individuals, while other studies indicate there is no difference between the two groups. According to neuroimaging studies on this subject, functional and anatomical differences were detected at the cortex and subcortical levels in the prefrontal lobe. This study is consisting of two parts, behavioral and neuroimaging using fNIRS. BDI was applied to the participants. The average age of the group with lower BDI score is 23,9±3,04; the average age of the higher group with higher BDI score is 22,2+2,28. A visuospatial 2-back task, which includes 4 different stimulus types with neutral, emotional, verbal, and non-verbal qualities, was applied to the participants. No significant differences were observed between the two groups in behavioral data. However, when fNIRS results were examined, it was found that the group with the high BDI scores showed more activation in the right PFC during the visuospatial 2-back task compared to the group with low BDI scores. Although the fNIRS results are consistent in the literature, behavioral findings support some of the findings in literature, while contradicting others. It is thought that the reason for this may be that participants are young, and the 2-back task is not difficult enough.


Author(s):  
Christiane Lange-Küttner ◽  
Stella Rohloff

We investigated the impact of the Mozart effect on word memory when music was heard in the delay rather than using music to induce mood or as background music. A sample of N = 84 participants was randomly assigned to one of three groups listening to a one-minute sound clip of Mozart (Kleine Nachtmusik) or Mahler (Adagietto) during the delay, with a third control group waiting in silence for the word memory test. Words were positive, negative or neutral and matched for word length and frequency. The word memory task was repeated three times (enforced rehearsal). Word memory was best after Mozart and worst after Mahler, with memory performance in the control condition in between. The Mozart effect occurred for word memory across positive, negative and neutral words. The Mozart effect also occurred independently of ethnicity, or the level of happiness in the participants. We conclude that word memory traces sharpened after Mozart’s music because the sonogram and spectrograms showed that this music had self-contained and bounded phrases like in psycholinguistic structures of words and sentences. In contrast, word memory traces may have washed out and degraded during the delay because Mahler’s music was flowing like a foreign language speech stream where a native speaker would not be able to parse words.


2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Merten ◽  
Matthias Henry ◽  
Robin Hilsabeck

Zusammenfassung: In der neuropsychologischen Diagnostik, mehr noch aber in der Begutachtung gewinnen Symptomvalidierungstests (SVT) zur Untersuchung der Leistungsmotivation zunehmend an Bedeutung. In einer Analogstudie wurde die Güte zweier international bekannter Verfahren (Word Memory Test; Amsterdam Short Term Memory Test) sowie einer Neuentwicklung (Word Completion Memory Test) untersucht. Zusätzlich wurden Leistungstests eingesetzt: der Trail Making Test (TMT), der Complex Figure Test sowie die Standard Progressive Matrices (SPM). Eine Gruppe von 10 experimentellen Simulanten wurde spezifisch auf die Vortäuschung von Gedächtnisstörungen vorbereitet, während eine Kontrollgruppe (n = 10) optimale Testanstrengung zeigen sollte. Alle SVT führten im Gegensatz zu den Simulationsmarkern des TMT und der SPM zu einer ausgezeichneten Klassifikationsgüte (95-100 %). Die neuropsychologischen Leistungsmaße wiesen zwar signifikante Gruppenunterschiede aus, zeigten aber auch eine nicht unbedeutende Überlappung der Verteilungen. Mehr Studien sind notwendig, um den SVT in den deutschsprachigen Ländern den Platz zu sichern, den sie international aktuell in der klinisch-neuropsychologischen Forschung und Praxis einnehmen.


Author(s):  
S. Srilekha ◽  
B. Vanathi

This paper focuses on electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) comparison to help the rehabilitation patients. Both methods have unique techniques and placement of electrodes. Usage of signals are different in application based on the economic conditions. This study helps in choosing the signal for the betterment of analysis. Ten healthy subject datasets of EEG & FNIRS are taken and applied to plot topography separately. Accuracy, Sensitivity, peaks, integral areas, etc are compared and plotted. The main advantages of this study are to prompt their necessities in the analysis of rehabilitation devices to manage their life as a typical individual.


Diabetes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 61-LB
Author(s):  
LISA R. LETOURNEAU-FREIBERG ◽  
KIMBERLY L. MEIDENBAUER ◽  
ANNA M. DENSON ◽  
PERSEPHONE TIAN ◽  
KYOUNG WHAN CHOE ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Burns ◽  
Lianne N. Barnes ◽  
Ian A. McCulloh ◽  
Munqith M. Dagher ◽  
Emily B. Falk ◽  
...  

The large majority of social neuroscience research uses WEIRD populations – participants from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic locations. This makes it difficult to claim whether neuropsychological functions are universal or culture specific. In this study, we demonstrate one approach to addressing the imbalance by using portable neuroscience equipment in a study of persuasion conducted in Jordan with an Arabic-speaking sample. Participants were shown persuasive videos on various health and safety topics while their brain activity was measured using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Self-reported persuasiveness ratings for each video were then recorded. Consistent with previous research conducted with American subjects, this work found that activity in the dorsomedial and ventromedial prefrontal cortex predicted how persuasive participants found the videos and how much they intended to engage in the messages’ endorsed behaviors. Further, activity in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex was associated with persuasiveness ratings, but only in participants for whom the message was personally relevant. Implications for these results on the understanding of the brain basis of persuasion and on future directions for neuroimaging in diverse populations are discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document