title: You are in sync with me: neural correlates of interpersonal synchrony with a partner.
abstract: Interpersonal synchrony is characterized by a temporary alignment of periodic behaviors with another person. This process requires that at least one of the two individuals monitors and adjusts his/her movements to maintain alignment with the other individual (the referent). Interestingly, recent research on interpersonal synchrony has found that people who are motivated to befriend an unfamiliar social referent tend to automatically synchronize with their social referents, raising the possibility that synchrony may be employed as an affiliation tool. It is unknown, however, whether the opposite is true; that is, whether the person serving as the referent of interpersonal synchrony perceives synchrony with his/her partner or experiences affiliative feelings toward the partner. To address this question, we performed a series of studies on interpersonal synchrony with a total of 100 participants. In all studies, participants served as the referent with no requirement to monitor or align their behavior with their partners. Unbeknown to the participants, the timings of their "partner's" movements were actually determined by a computer program based on the participant's (i.e., referent's) behavior. Overall, our behavioral results showed that the referent of a synchrony task expressed greater perceived synchrony and greater social affiliation toward a synchronous partner (i.e., one displaying low mean asynchrony and/or a narrow asynchrony range) than with an asynchronous partner (i.e., one displaying high mean asynchrony and/or high asynchrony range). Our neuroimaging study extended these results by demonstrating involvement of brain areas implicated in social cognition, embodied cognition, self-other expansion, and action observation as correlates of interpersonal synchrony (vs. asynchrony). These findings have practical implications for social interaction and theoretical implications for understanding interpersonal synchrony and social coordination.
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, HPEN laboratory, University of Chicago, 940 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, United States.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cacioppo
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, 5848 South University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, United States.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, HPEN laboratory, University of Chicago, 940 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, United States.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Monteleone
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, 5848 South University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, United States.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Majka
authors.affiliation: School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, United Kingdom; Department of Psychology, DePaul University, 2219 North Kenmore Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657, United States.
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, HPEN laboratory, University of Chicago, 940 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, United States.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, 5848 South University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, United States.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Norman
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, Netherlands; Department of Psychology, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Semin
authors.affiliation: Center for Cognitive and Social Neuroscience, HPEN laboratory, University of Chicago, 940 East 57th Street, Chicago, IL 60637, United States; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 5841 South Maryland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, United States; Department of Psychology, University of Chicago, 5848 South University Avenue, Chicago, IL 60637, United States. Electronic address: Cacioppo@uchicago.edu.
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Cacioppo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012649:Self Concept; D012938:Social Perception; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen
keywords: Shared representations; dyads; embodied cognition; fMRI; interpersonal synchrony; social neuroscience