title: Teams on the same wavelength perform better: Inter-brain phase synchronization constitutes a neural substrate for social facilitation.
abstract: Working together feels easier with some people than with others. We asked participants to perform a visual search task either alone or with a partner while simultaneously measuring each participant's EEG. Local phase synchronization and inter-brain phase synchronization were generally higher when subjects jointly attended to a visual search task than when they attended to the same task individually. Some participants searched the visual display more efficiently and made faster decisions when working as a team, whereas other dyads did not benefit from working together. These inter-team differences in behavioral performance gain in the visual search task were reliably associated with inter-team differences in local and inter-brain phase synchronization. Our results suggest that phase synchronization constitutes a neural correlate of social facilitation, and may help to explain why some teams perform better than others.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany. Electronic address: szymanski@mpib-berlin.mpg.de.
authors.forename: Caroline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Szymanski
authors.affiliation: University of British Columbia, 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pesquita
authors.affiliation: Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5A 1S6.
authors.forename: Allison A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; Aix-Marseille Université, Inserm, Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes UMR_S 1106, 13385 Marseille, France.
authors.forename: Dionysios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Perdikis
authors.affiliation: University of British Columbia, 2329 West Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z4.
authors.forename: James T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Enns
authors.affiliation: Pennsylvania State University, 115 Health and Human Development, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Brick
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Viktor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Lentzeallee 94, 14195 Berlin, Germany; European University Institute, Via Roccettini 9, 50014 San Domenico di Fiesole (FI), Italy.
authors.forename: Ulman
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lindenberger
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003344:Cortical Synchronization; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011930:Reaction Time; D012932:Social Facilitation; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: EEG; Hyperscanning; Joint attention; Social facilitation; Social neuroscience; Visual search