scholarly journals A Guide to Parent-Child fNIRS Hyperscanning Data Processing and Analysis

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (12) ◽  
pp. 4075
Author(s):  
Trinh Nguyen ◽  
Stefanie Hoehl ◽  
Pascal Vrtička
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Models ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Generalized Linear Mixed Models ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Wavelet Transform Coherence ◽  
Pair Analysis ◽  
Random Pair ◽  
Problem Solving Task ◽  
Parent Child

The use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning during naturalistic interactions in parent–child dyads has substantially advanced our understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of human social interaction. However, despite the rise of developmental hyperscanning studies over the last years, analysis procedures have not yet been standardized and are often individually developed by each research team. This article offers a guide on parent–child fNIRS hyperscanning data analysis in MATLAB and R. We provide an example dataset of 20 dyads assessed during a cooperative versus individual problem-solving task, with brain signal acquired using 16 channels located over bilateral frontal and temporo-parietal areas. We use MATLAB toolboxes Homer2 and SPM for fNIRS to preprocess the acquired brain signal data and suggest a standardized procedure. Next, we calculate interpersonal neural synchrony between dyads using Wavelet Transform Coherence (WTC) and illustrate how to run a random pair analysis to control for spurious correlations in the signal. We then use RStudio to estimate Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) to account for the bounded distribution of coherence values for interpersonal neural synchrony analyses. With this guide, we hope to offer advice for future parent–child fNIRS hyperscanning investigations and to enhance replicability within the field.

scholarly journals A Guide to Parent-Child fNIRS Hyperscanning Data Analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trinh Nguyen ◽  
Stefanie Hoehl ◽  
Pascal Vrticka
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Wavelet Transform Coherence ◽  
Pair Analysis ◽  
Random Pair ◽  
Problem Solving Task ◽  
Parent Child

The use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning during naturalistic interactions in parent-child dyads has substantially advanced our understanding of the neurobiological underpinnings of human social interaction. However, despite the rise of developmental hyperscanning studies over the last years, analysis procedures have not yet been standardized and are often individually developed by each research team. This article offers a guide on parent-child fNIRS hyperscanning data analysis in MATLAB and R. We provide an exemplary dataset of 20 dyads assessed during a cooperative versus individual problem-solving task, with brain activity measured using 16 channels located over bilateral frontal and temporo-parietal areas. We use MATLAB toolboxes Homer2 and SPM for fNIRS to preprocess the acquired data, and suggest a standardized procedure previously employed in several publications. Next, we calculate interpersonal neural synchrony between dyads using Wavelet Transform Coherence (WTC) and illustrate how to run a random pair analysis to control for spurious correlations in the signal. We then use RStudio to estimate Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMM) to account for the bounded distribution of coherence values for interpersonal neural synchrony analyses. With this guide, we hope to offer advice for future parent-child fNIRS hyperscanning investigations and to enhance replicability within the field.

scholarly journals Neural synchrony in mother–child conversation: Exploring the role of conversation patterns

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trinh Nguyen ◽  
Hanna Schleihauf ◽  
Ezgi Kayhan ◽  
Daniel Matthes ◽  
Pascal Vrtička ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Family Environment ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Neural Synchronization ◽  
Turn Taking ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Parent Child

Abstract Conversations are an essential form of communication in daily family life. Specific patterns of caregiver–child conversations have been linked to children’s socio-cognitive development and child-relationship quality beyond the immediate family environment. Recently, interpersonal neural synchronization has been proposed as a neural mechanism supporting conversation. Here, we present a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning study looking at the temporal dynamics of neural synchrony during mother–child conversation. Preschoolers (20 boys and 20 girls, M age 5;07 years) and their mothers (M age 36.37 years) were tested simultaneously with fNIRS hyperscanning while engaging in a free verbal conversation lasting for 4 min. Neural synchrony (using wavelet transform coherence analysis) was assessed over time. Furthermore, each conversational turn was coded for conversation patterns comprising turn-taking, relevance, contingency and intrusiveness. Results from linear mixed-effects modeling revealed that turn-taking, but not relevance, contingency or intrusiveness predicted neural synchronization during the conversation over time. Results are discussed to point out possible variables affecting parent–child conversation quality and the potential functional role of interpersonal neural synchronization for parent–child conversation.

scholarly journals Interpersonal brain synchronization during face-to-face economic exchange between acquainted dyads

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuto Kikuchi ◽  
Kensuke Tanioka ◽  
Tomoyuki Hiroyasu ◽  
Satoru Hiwa
Keyword(s):  
Near Infrared ◽  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Cooperative Behavior ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Economic Exchange ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
Pair Analysis ◽  
Random Pair

Interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) has been observed during social interactions and involves various factors, such as familiarity with the partner and type of social activity. A previous study has shown that face-to-face interactions in pairs of strangers increase IBS. However, it is unclear whether this can be observed when the nature of the interacting partners is different. Herein, we aimed to extend these findings to pairs of acquaintances. Neural activity in the frontal and temporal regions was recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning. Participants played an ultimatum game that required virtual economic exchange in two experimental settings: the face-to-face and face-blocked conditions. Random pair analysis confirmed whether IBS was induced by social interaction. Contrary to the aforementioned study, our results did not show any cooperative behavior or task-induced IBS increase. Conversely, the random pair analysis results revealed that the pair-specific IBS was significant only in the task condition at the left and right superior frontal, middle frontal, orbital superior frontal, right superior temporal, precentral, and postcentral gyri. Our results revealed that face-to-face interaction in acquainted pairs did not increase IBS and supported the idea that IBS is affected by "with whom we interact and how."

scholarly journals Synchrony of mind and body are distinct in mother-child dyads

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Reindl ◽  
Sam Wass ◽  
Victoria Leong ◽  
Wolfgang Scharke ◽  
Sandra Wistuba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Near Infrared ◽  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Interpersonal Synchrony ◽  
Neural Processes ◽  
Behavioral Synchrony ◽  
Mind And Body ◽  
The Brain

AbstractHyperscanning studies have begun to unravel the brain mechanisms underlying social interaction, indicating a functional role for interpersonal neural synchronization (INS), yet the mechanisms that drive INS are poorly understood. While interpersonal synchrony is considered a multimodal phenomenon, it is not clear how different biological and behavioral synchrony markers are related to each other. The current study, thus, addresses whether INS is functionally-distinct from synchrony in other systems – specifically the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and motor behavior. To test this, we used a novel methodological approach, based on concurrent functional near-infrared spectroscopy-electrocardiography, recorded while N = 34 mother-child and stranger-child dyads (child mean age 14 years) engaged in cooperative and competitive tasks. Results showed a marked differentiation between neural, ANS and behavioral synchrony. Importantly, only in the neural domain was higher synchrony for mother-child compared to stranger-child dyads observed. Further, ANS and neural synchrony were positively related during competition but not during cooperation. These results suggest that synchrony in different behavioral and biological systems may reflect distinct processes. Mother-child INS may arise due to neural processes related to social affiliation, which go beyond shared arousal and similarities in behavior.

scholarly journals Neural synchrony predicts children’s learning of novel words

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise A. Piazza ◽  
Ariella Cohen ◽  
Juliana Trach ◽  
Casey Lew-Williams
Keyword(s):  
Language Learning ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Book Reading ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Temporal Correlations ◽  
Children’S Learning ◽  
Novel Words ◽  
Children's Learning

AbstractSocial interactions have a well-studied influence on early development and language learning. Recent work has begun to investigate the neural mechanisms that underlie shared representations of input, documenting neural synchrony or coupling (measured using intersubject temporal correlations of neural activity) between individuals exposed to the same stimulus. Neural synchrony has been found to predict the quality of engagement with a stimulus and with communicative cues, but studies have yet to address how neural synchrony among children may relate to real-time learning. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), we recorded the neural activity of 45 children (3.5-4.5 years) during joint book reading with an adult experimenter. The custom children’s book contained four novel words and objects embedded in an unfolding story, as well as a range of narrative details about object functions and character roles. We observed synchronized neural activity between child participants during book reading and found a positive correlation between learning and intersubject neural synchronization in parietal cortex, an area implicated in narrative-level processing in adult research. Our findings suggest that children’s learning is facilitated by active neural engagement with the dynamics of natural social input.

scholarly journals Motor Skill Training Effect on Real-Time Prefrontal Cortex Activation During Walking

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 162-162
Author(s):  
Subashan Perera ◽  
Theodore Huppert ◽  
Jennifer Brach ◽  
Andrea Rosso ◽  
Nemin Chen
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Physical Therapy ◽  
Dual Task ◽  
Motor Skill ◽  
Mixed Models ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Skill Training ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Task Time ◽  
Motor Skill Training

Abstract We aimed to test the effects of motor skill training (MST) on gait automaticity measured by changes in prefrontal cortex (PFC) activation during actual walking. We used data from a 12-week trial of older adults (mean age=75.5, 60.5% women) randomized to standard physical therapy and standard+MST in a 1:1 ratio. Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) measured PFC activation during simple and dual task walking. We will apply linear mixed models to assess effects of task, time, and MST on PFC activation. We will compare the PFC activation 1) during dual task walking compared to simple walking; 2) across visits after intervention; and 3) between participants receiving MST compared to standard physical therapy. These results will demonstrate whether gait automaticity, as evidenced by PFC activation during walking, is affected by MST.

scholarly journals “The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend”: Shared Negative but not Positive Emotional Experience is Associated with Neural Synchrony in the Medial Prefrontal Cortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiani Li ◽  
MACRINA DIEFFENBACH ◽  
MATTHEW D. LIEBERMAN
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Medial Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Subjective Experience ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Emotional Experience ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Neural Signature ◽  
The Impact

Prevalent, automatic, and powerful, emotional experience forms an integral part of human life. Despite numerous studies pointing at the impact of emotion in shaping one’s interpretation of situation and guiding action, emotional experience has not been studied extensively due to its idiosyncratic nature. However, advances in neuroimaging techniques and statistical analysis methods enabled more rigorous investigation of subjective experience, one of which is neural synchrony. Here we sought to examine if neural synchrony in regions within the default mode network, including medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), bilateral temporoparietal junctions (TPJ) and inferior parietal lobules (IPL), underlies shared emotional experience. A hundred and four participants watched political videos while being scanned by Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) and rated their emotional experience afterwards. Although initial Inter- Subject Correlation Analysis and Inter-Subject Representational Similarity Analysis did not yield significant findings, we addressed limitations of both approaches – loss of dimensionality and unequal comparisons of dyads – by combining them with k-means clustering. This improved version of analysis revealed that subjects who reported more similarly negative, but not positive, emotional experiences exhibited more synchronized neural fluctuations in mPFC. The results suggest that neural synchrony in mPFC may be driven primarily by negative sentiments and serve as a neural signature for subjective emotional experience.

scholarly journals A Synchrony-Based Classification Approach for Predicting Attitudes Using fNIRS

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Macrina C Dieffenbach ◽  
Grace S R Gillespie ◽  
Shannon M Burns ◽  
Ian A McCulloh ◽  
Daniel L Ames ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Near Infrared ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Reference Groups ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Neuroscience Research ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Dispositional Differences

Abstract Social neuroscience research has demonstrated that those who are like-minded are also “like-brained.” Studies have shown that people who share similar viewpoints have greater neural synchrony with one another, and less synchrony with people who “see things differently.” Although these effects have been demonstrated at the group level, little work has been done to predict the viewpoints of specific individuals using neural synchrony measures. Furthermore, the studies that have made predictions using synchrony-based classification at the individual level used expensive and immobile neuroimaging equipment (e.g. fMRI) in highly controlled laboratory settings, which may not generalize to real-world contexts. Thus, this study uses a simple synchrony-based classification method, which we refer to as the neural reference groups approach, to predict individuals’ dispositional attitudes from data collected in a mobile “pop-up neuroscience” lab. Using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) data, we predicted individuals’ partisan stances on a sociopolitical issue by comparing their neural timecourses to data from two partisan neural reference groups. We found that partisan stance could be identified at above-chance levels using data from dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC). These results indicate that the neural reference groups approach can be used to investigate naturally-occurring, dispositional differences anywhere in the world.

What Guides Us to Neurally and Behaviorally Align With Anyone Specific? A Neurobiological Model Based on fNIRS Hyperscanning Studies

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 108-116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hila Z. Gvirts ◽  
Rotem Perlmutter
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Specific Interaction ◽  
Social Attention ◽  
Neural Synchrony ◽  
Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Attention Systems

An emerging body of hyperscanning functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) research shows interbrain neural synchrony (IBS) during different forms of social interaction. Here we review the recent literature and propose several factors that facilitate IBS, leading us to ask the following question: In a world full of people and opportunities to synchronize with them, what directs our neural and behavioral alignment with anyone specific? We suggest that IBS between what we deem the “mutual social attention systems” of interacting partners—that is, the coupling between participants’ temporoparietal junctions and/or prefrontal cortices—facilitates and enhances the ability to tune in to the specific interaction, its participants and its goals. We propose that this process is linked to social alignment, reinforcing one another to facilitate successful and lucrative social interactions. We further suggest that neurochemical mechanisms of dopamine and oxytocin underlie the activation of this suggested loop. Finally, we suggest possible directions for future studies, emphasizing the need to develop a brain-to-brain neurofeedback system with IBS between the mutual social attention systems of the participants as the direct regulating target.

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