When We Feel “Like-Minded” Is It Only in Our Minds?

Research has found that synchronization in facial expressions, ways of speaking, body movements, pulse, breath, and even brain activity, are ... ShareonFacebook ShareonTwitter DownloadPDF CoreConcept NeuroscienceandPsychology Published:November8,2021 WhenWeFeel“Like-Minded”IsItOnlyinOurMinds? Authorsandreviewers Authors InbalRavreby InbalRavreby IwasraisedinJerusalem.DuringmyB.Sc.,inpsychologyandcognitionattheOpenUniversity,Igottoknowavarietyofpeople.Formanyyears,Iwonderedwhythereisanimmediatesocialbondingwithcertainpeople,butwithotherstheconnectionformsgraduallyornotatall.Idonotknowwhethertelepathyexists,butwhenpeopleareclosetooneanother,sometimestheycananticipatewhattheotherwouldsay,whattheythink,orhowtheyfeel.InmyM.Sc.,inneuroscienceattheWeizmannInstituteofScience,Ifocusedonthequestionofhowsimilaritiesinpeoples’bodyodorsinfluencesocialbonding.Today,formyPh.D.,inneuroscienceattheWeizmannInstituteofScience,IworkwithProf.NoamSobelandDr.YaaraYeshurun,studyinghowsynchronizationisrelatedtoclosenessbetweenpeopleandtothefeelingofsharedunderstanding. YaaraYeshurun YaaraYeshurun IwasraisedinGivataim.Inhighschool,IdecidedIwantedtostudyemotions—IthoughtitwastodealwiththedifficultyofbeingasoccerfanofHapoelTelAviv,butyearslaterIunderstoodthatitwasmywayofcombiningmymom’scareer(psychologist)andmydad’s(computerscientist).IgotaB.Sc.,inbiologyandmathematicsandanM.Sc.,inbiology;thenIgotaPh.D.,inneuroscienceattheWeizmannInstitute,studyingtherelationshipbetweenthesenseofsmellandmemory.IdidpostdoctoralfellowshipintheUnitedStates,studyinghowthebrainresponsedifferwhenpeopleunderstandthesamestoryindifferentways.Today,IamafacultymemberattheSchoolofPsychologicalSciencesandtheSagolSchoolofNeuroscienceatTel-AvivUniversity,inthefieldofsocialneuroscience.Itrytobeparticularityinsyncwithmythreechildren.*[email protected] YoungReviewers IsraelArtsandScienceAcademy IsraelArtsandScienceAcademy Age:14–15 IsraelArtsandScienceAcademyisaplaceforcuriousstudentswholiketolearn.Inthe9thgrade,aspartoftheelectiveclasseswearethestudentswhoreadscientificpaperswechose.ThecoursewasleadbyAnatMaoz,theprincipleofoursecondaryschool,whichhasaMastersdegreeinmarinebiology. Abstract Muchofourtimeisspentcommunicatingwithotherpeople,includingfamily,friends,andteachers.Whenwetalkwithothers,weareinterestedinunderstandingoneanother,andwecanoftensensewhenthecommunicationisgood.Scientistssuggestthatsynchronization—astateinwhichthingshappensimultaneously—contributestogoodcommunication.Researchhasfoundthatsynchronizationinfacialexpressions,waysofspeaking,bodymovements,pulse,breath,andevenbrainactivity,arerelatedtopositivecommunication.Inthisarticle,wewilldescribetheroleofsynchronizationanddiscussthepossibilitythatwhenwefeelweare“ridingonthesamewave”withthepersonwearetalkingto,weactuallyareonthesamephysicalandmentalwave—synchronized. TheChameleonEffect Trythisshortexperiment.Takeafewminutesofyourtimetotalktosomeonewhoisathomewithyou.Tellthatpersonabouthowyouarefeelingandwhatyouhavebeendoingtoday,andaskhowheorsheisfeeling.Duringyourconversation,noticeboththefacialexpressionsandbodylanguagethatyouandyourconversationpartneruse.Didyousmileatthesametime?Didyousitorstandinthesameposition?Didyouusesimilartonesofvoice? Studieshavefoundthatpeopleoftencoordinatethemselveswithoneanother.Forexample,theywalkatthesamepace,usethesamebodypostures(Figure1),smilejustmomentsapart,andslowdownorspeeduptheirspeechdependingonhowfasttheotherpersonistalking.Evenwhenwedance,ourmovementsareinfluencedbythepersonwearedancingwith,andthosearoundus.Thissynchronization,inwhichpeopledothingsthatarecoordinatedwithothers,beginswhenweareborn.Infantsoftenimitatethemovementsofthosearoundthem.Forexample,babieswillstickouttheirtongueswhentheyseetheirsiblingsdothat,ortheywillopentheirmouthstoeatwhentheyseesomeoneelseeating. Figure1-Synchronizationofbehaviorduringaconversation. Thisphotoillustratesthechameleoneffect:astheycommunicate,thechildrenunknowinglycoordinatethewaythattheysitandtheirbodylanguage. Usually,allthiscoordinationduringcommunicationhappenswithoutanyoneevennoticing!Researcherscallthisphenomenonthechameleoneffect[1]—muchlikechameleonsmatchtheircolorswiththeirphysicalenvironments,wecoordinateourbehaviorstooursocialenvironments. SynchronizationofBehavior Whenweseesomeonesmile,themusclesattheedgesofourmouthsandeyesmovealittle.Often,thisisnotvisiblefromtheoutside,butitcanbeseenwithadevicethatmeasurestheelectricalactivityofthemuscles.Thesemusclemovementshappenwithoutourcontrol,and,interestingly,themorewelikethepersonwearetalkingwith,thebiggerthemusclemovementsare.Whensomeonewelikeverymuchsmiles,wewilloftensmileback,withoutevennoticing.Thismeansthatwecoordinateourselvesmorewithpeoplewhosecompanyweenjoy. Thepositiveinfluenceofsynchronizationgoesbothways:justaswemoreoftenimitatepeoplewelikethanpeoplewedonotlike,wealsotendtolikethepeoplewhoimitateusmorethanthosewhodonot.Inonestudy,eachparticipantcollaboratedwitharesearcher.Withonegroupofparticipants,theresearchermimickedtheparticipant:iftheparticipantsatwithonelegontopoftheother,theresearchersatthesameway;oriftheparticipanttouchedhisorherhead,theresearcheralsodidthat.Withthesecondgroupofparticipants,theresearcherdidnotmimickedtheparticipant.Thisstudyfoundthatparticipantsinthefirstgrouplikedtheresearchermorethanparticipantsinthesecondgroup[1]. Peoplewhocan“stepintotheshoes”ofothersandeasilyunderstandwhatothersfeelandthinktendtomimicthefacialexpressionsandbodylanguageofothersmoreoften.Wearealsomorelikelytotrustandbelievethosepeoplewhomimicus.Surprisingly,thiseffectwasevenfoundwithavatars—virtualcharactersincomputergames.Studyparticipantslikedandbelievedavatarsthatmimickedthemmorethanavatarsthatdidnot. SynchronizationofBodyandBrain Synchronizationandmimicrydonotoccuronlywithourbehaviors,butalsoinourautomaticbodyprocesses.Forexample,whenpeoplewalkedoncoals—averyscaryandexcitingaction—infrontoftheirrelatives,thepeoplewhofeltclosesttothecoalwalkerswerehighlysynchronizedwiththewalker’sheartbeat,eventhoughtherelativeswereonlywatching[2].Wealsounknowinglymimiconeanother’sbreathing.Inoneexperiment,participantswatchedafilm.Inpartswherethefilm’sherotookalongbreathorsighed,theparticipantsoftenmimickedthatcharacterandsighedjust1slater. Muchevidencehasbeenfoundshowingthatsynchronizationalsohappensatthebrainlevel.Forexample,whenwatchingshortvideos,thebrainactivityoffriendsismoresynchronizedthanthatofpeoplewhoarenotfriends.Itispossiblethatthishappensbecausepeoplewhounderstandandinterpretthingsinthesamewayhavebrainactivitythatismoresimilar.Iftwosoccerplayerswatchadramaticmatchtogether,thebrainofafanofoneteamwillbeactivesimilarlytothebrainsofotherfansofthatsameteam,anddifferentlyfromthebrainsoffanssupportingtheoppositeteam.Similarly,ifwelistentoHarryPotterandimaginethatweareHarryPotter,ourbrainswillbesynchronizedwithotherpeoplewhoimaginethattheyareHarryPotter,butnotwiththosewhoimaginetheyareVoldemort. Brainsynchronizationisalsorelatedtotheamountofunderstandingbetweenthespeakerandlistener.Forexample,aresearchparticipanttoldastoryaboutsomethingsheexperiencedinhighschool,whileherbrainactivitywasmeasuredusingadevicecalledamagneticresonanceimaging(MRI)scanner.Afterwards,otherparticipantslistenedtotherecordingofherstorywhiletheirbrainswerebeingscanned.Theresearchersfoundthatpeoplewhohadsimilarbrainactivitytothatofthestorytellerunderstoodherstorybetter[3]. Oneinterestingstudytestedbrainsynchronizationamongstudentsandtheteacherduringaclass.Thestudyfoundthatthemoreinterestedandengagedthestudentswereinthesubjectbeingtaught,themoresynchronizedtheirbrainactivitywaswiththatofotherstudentsandtheteacher[4].Thenexttimeyouareinterestedinaclass,rememberthatyourbrainissynchronizedwiththebrainsoftheteacherandotherinterestedstudents! Synchronizationofbrainactivityisalsoseenduringotherpositiveinteractions,suchaslovebetweenfriendsandpartners,collaborationonaproject,singing,andlisteningtoenjoyablemusic.Youcanexperiencehowenjoyablesynchronizationcanbebyplayingthemirrorgamewithafriend:standinfrontofeachotherandtrytomoveyourarmsinascoordinatedamanneraspossible.Youwillseethat,whenyousucceedinmovingyourarmstogether,itfeelsverygratifying.Thisgamewasusedinexperimentsmeasuringbrainsynchronization,usingatechniquecalledfunctionalnear-infraredspectroscopy(FNIRS),whichinvolveswearingadeviceonthehead(Figure2).Theresultsshowedthatwhenparticipantsmoveinamoresynchronizedway,theirbrainsarealsomoresynchronized. Figure2-FNIRSisatechniquethatallowsresearcherstoeasilymeasurebrainactivityinthelabandduringdailylife,ascanbeseeninthepicture. Whenparticipantsplaythemirrorgame,themoresynchronizedtheirmovements,themoresynchronizedtheirbrainactivityinanareaofthebrainrelatedtosocialinteraction.Anexampleofparticipants’brainresponsescanbeseenintherightpanel,inwhichinredistheresponseofoneparticipant,andinbluetheresponseoftheother. HowCanSynchronizationImproveCommunication? Sonowyouknowthatsynchronizationofbehavior,bodyprocesses,andbrainactivityallhelpwitheffectivecommunication.Butwhyisthisso?Itispossiblethatsynchronizationhelpsustobetterunderstandwhatanotherpersonisgoingthrough.Forexample,whensomeoneelsesmilesitmakesussmile,andifourbrainsinterpretasmileasanindicatorofhappiness,thiswillhelpustounderstandthatthepersoninfrontofusishappy. Inastudyconductedabout30yearsago,participantswatchedafunnytelevisionshow.Inpartsoftheshow,researchersaddedthesoundofpeoplelaughing.Theresearchparticipantssmiledmoreduringthepartsoftheshowthatcontainedlaughter,andalsoenjoyedthesepartsmore.Interestingly,whenparticipantswereinstructednottomovetheirfacemusclesduringtheshow,theydidnotenjoythepartswithlaughtermorethanotherparts.Thistellsusthattheactofsmilingmadeparticipantsenjoytheshowmore.Facialexpressionsandbodymovementsseemtoprecedethefeelingofhappiness! Inadditiontohelpingusunderstandwhatothersarefeeling,synchronizationcanmakeunderstandinganotherpersoneasier.Forexample,whenpeoplecoordinatethevolumeoftheirspeech,thewordsandphrasestheyuse,ortheirtoneofvoicewiththepersontheyarespeakingwith,itiseasierforthelistenertounderstandthem,becausecoordinatedspeechislikeusingacommonlanguage.Synchronizationofbodymovementshelpsustofeelconnectedtothepersonwithwhomwearecommunicating,andmayleadustohelpeachothermore.Researchhasfoundthatifchildrenseesawtogetheratthesamepaceintheplayground,theyaremorelikelytosharewitheachotherafterwardsandcollaborateontasks.Anotherstudyfoundthatwhentworowersinaboatsynchronizedtheirbodymovements,theyproducedmoremood-improvingsubstancesintheirblood. Together,theseexamplestellusthatsynchronizationcanfacilitateunderstandingofoneanotherandimprovecooperation. InterestingQuestionsfortheFuture Therehavebeensomeextraordinaryscientificadvancesinrecentyears,includingFNIRS,thatcanhelpusstudyreal-worldcommunicationandmeasurethesynchronizationandimitationthathappensduringnaturalcommunication—notjustinthelab.Thesenewtechniqueswillallowustoaskmanyfascinatingquestionsaboutthevariouskindsofsynchronizationthatoccurindailylife.Aretherecertainpeoplewetendtosynchronizewithmorethanothers?Arecertaintypesofsynchronizationmorerelatedtoouremotionalexperiencesthanothers—forexample,isbrainsynchronizationmorerelatedtounderstanding,andheartbeatsynchronizationmorerelatedtoexcitement?Isitpossibletoresolveconflictsusingsynchronization?Ifwecreatesynchronizationwhentwopeoplefirstmeet,willtheyhaveagreaterchanceofbecomingfriends?Weplantoexaminehowvariousaspectsofsynchronization,includingfacialexpressions,speech,heartbeat,breathing,andbrainactivity,influencecommunicationindailylife.Ouraimistobetterunderstandtherolesandimportanceofthevarioustypesofsynchronizationandlearnhowtousethemtoimprovecommunicationbetweenpeople. Tosummarize,ifyouhaveeverfeltlikeyouwere“ridingthesamewave”assomeoneyouwerecommunicatingwith,orthatyouandyourclosefriendsare“like-minded,”thiswasprobablynotbychance!Everyday,aswecommunicate,wesynchronizewithotherpeople—especiallythosewefeelcloseto—oftenwithoutevennoticing. Glossary Synchronization:↑Astateinwhichtwothingshappensimultaneously,forexample,twopeoplesmilingatthesametime. ChameleonEffect:↑Non-consciousmimicryofinteraction’spartnerbodymovements,facialexpressionsandwaysoftalking. Imitation/mimicry:↑Whenapersonperformsthesameactionasanotherperson,closetogetherintime.Forexample,someonesmilesandabitlaterapersonwhoseesthemalsosmiles. MagneticResonanceImaging(MRI):↑Atechniquethatmeasuresbrainstructureandactivityinagreatresolution.Theparticipantmustbelyinginsidethemachine. FunctionalNear-InfraredSpectroscopy(FNIRS):↑Atechniquethatallowstomeasurebrainactivityintheouterpartsofthebrainandcanbeusedduringdailyactivitiessuchaswhenhavingaconversationorplayingtogether. ConflictofInterest Theauthorsdeclarethattheresearchwasconductedintheabsenceofanycommercialorfinancialrelationshipsthatcouldbeconstruedasapotentialconflictofinterest. References [1]↑Chartrand,T.L.,andBargh,J.A.1999.Thechameleoneffect:theperception–behaviorlinkandsocialinteraction.JpersSocpsychol.76:893–910.doi:10.1037//0022-3514.76.6.893 [2]↑Konvalinka,I.,Xygalatas,D.,Bulbulia,J.,Schjødt,U.,Jegindø,E.M.,Wallot,S.,etal.2011.Synchronizedarousalbetweenperformersandrelatedspectatorsinafire-walkingritual.ProcNatlAcadSciUSA.108:8514–9.doi:10.1073/pnas.1016955108 [3]↑Stephens,G.J.,Silbert,L.J.,andHasson,U.2010.Speaker–listenerneuralcouplingunderliessuccessfulcommunication.ProcNatlAcadSciUSA.107:14425–30.doi:10.1073/pnas.1008662107 [4]↑Dikker,S.,Wan,L.,Davidesco,I.,Kaggen,L.,Oostrik,M.,McClintock,J.,etal.2017.Brain-to-brainsynchronytracksreal-worlddynamicgroupinteractionsintheclassroom.CurrBiol.27:1375–80.doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.04.002 Articleinformation Citation RavrebyIandYeshurunY(2021)WhenWeFeel“Like-Minded”IsItOnlyinOurMinds?.Front.YoungMinds.9:748390.doi:10.3389/frym.2021.748390 Editor IdanSegev ScienceMentors IdanSegev Publishingdates Submitted:July27,2021;Accepted:October7,2021; Publishedonline:November8,2021. 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