Cooperative Behavior Evokes Interbrain Synchrony in the Prefrontal and Temporoparietal Cortex: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of fNIRS Hyperscanning Studies

TY - JOUR

T1 - Cooperative Behavior Evokes Interbrain Synchrony in the Prefrontal and Temporoparietal Cortex: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of fNIRS Hyperscanning Studies

AU - Czeszumski, Artur

AU - Liang, Sophie Hsin-Yi

AU - Dikker, Suzanne

AU - König, Peter

AU - Lee, Chin-Pang

AU - Koole, Sander L

AU - Kelsen, Brent

N1 - Copyright © 2022 Czeszumski et al.

PY - 2022/3/31

Y1 - 2022/3/31

N2 - Single-brain neuroimaging studies have shown that human cooperation is associated with neural activity in frontal and temporoparietal regions. However, it remains unclear whether single-brain studies are informative about cooperation in real life, where people interact dynamically. Such dynamic interactions have become the focus of interbrain studies. An advantageous technique in this regard is functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) because it is less susceptible to movement artifacts than more conventional techniques like electroencephalography (EEG) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We conducted a systematic review and the first quantitative meta-analysis of fNIRS hyperscanning of cooperation, based on thirteen studies with 890 human participants. Overall, the meta-analysis revealed evidence of statistically significant interbrain synchrony while people were cooperating, with large overall effect sizes in both frontal and temporoparietal areas. All thirteen studies observed significant interbrain synchrony in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), suggesting that this region is particularly relevant for cooperative behavior. The consistency in these findings is unlikely to be because of task-related activations, given that the relevant studies used diverse cooperation tasks. Together, the present findings support the importance of interbrain synchronization of frontal and temporoparietal regions in interpersonal cooperation. Moreover, the present article highlights the usefulness of meta-analyses as a tool for discerning patterns in interbrain dynamics.

AB - Single-brain neuroimaging studies have shown that human cooperation is associated with neural activity in frontal and temporoparietal regions. However, it remains unclear whether single-brain studies are informative about cooperation in real life, where people interact dynamically. Such dynamic interactions have become the focus of interbrain studies. An advantageous technique in this regard is functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) because it is less susceptible to movement artifacts than more conventional techniques like electroencephalography (EEG) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We conducted a systematic review and the first quantitative meta-analysis of fNIRS hyperscanning of cooperation, based on thirteen studies with 890 human participants. Overall, the meta-analysis revealed evidence of statistically significant interbrain synchrony while people were cooperating, with large overall effect sizes in both frontal and temporoparietal areas. All thirteen studies observed significant interbrain synchrony in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), suggesting that this region is particularly relevant for cooperative behavior. The consistency in these findings is unlikely to be because of task-related activations, given that the relevant studies used diverse cooperation tasks. Together, the present findings support the importance of interbrain synchronization of frontal and temporoparietal regions in interpersonal cooperation. Moreover, the present article highlights the usefulness of meta-analyses as a tool for discerning patterns in interbrain dynamics.

KW - Brain/diagnostic imaging

KW - Brain Mapping/methods

KW - Cooperative Behavior

KW - Diencephalon

KW - Humans

KW - Prefrontal Cortex/diagnostic imaging

KW - Spectroscopy, Near-Infrared/methods

U2 - 10.1523/ENEURO.0268-21.2022

DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0268-21.2022

M3 - SCORING: Review article

C2 - 35365502

VL - 9

JO - ENEURO

JF - ENEURO

SN - 2373-2822

IS - 2

M1 - ENEURO.0268-21.2022

ER -