Interpersonal Musical Synchronization and Prosocial Behavior in Children: No Effects in a Controlled Field Experiment

Prosocial effects of music have recently attracted increased attention in research and media. An often-cited experiment, carried out by Kirschner and Tomasello in 2010 under laboratory conditions, found that children at the age of four years were more willing to help each other after they had engaged in synchronous musical activities. The aim of the current study was to replicate this research under controlled field conditions in the children's social environment, and to disentangle the musical synchronization effect by introducing a verbal interaction (singing together) and a motor interaction (tapping together) task, contrasted by an asynchronous control condition. In a between-participants design, no effects of musical synchronization nor the children's gender were found. Furthermore, age was not related to prosocial behavior. Explanations are systematically discussed, yet it remains possible that the original effect found in 2010 might be overestimated and less consistently reproducible as previously assumed.

Nonlinear Suppression of a Dual-Tube Coriolis Mass Flowmeter Based on Synchronization Effect

Nonlinear interference components exist in the output signals of dual-tube Coriolis mass flowmeters (CMFs) which affect the sensitivity and accuracy of the devices. This nonlinearity still appears under zero flow, which is manifested when the output signal contains a frequency doubling signal. This study (1) investigated an additional-mass method to suppress the nonlinear frequency doubling phenomenon, (2) established a coupling system vibration model with additional mass, built a dynamic differential equation for the vibration of the double-beam coupling system from the Lagrange equation, (3) obtained amplitude frequency information using a fourth-order Runge–Kutta method, (4) determined the suppression effect of the additional mass on the nonlinear frequency doubling phenomenon, and (5) experimentally verified the CMF. The results showed that the base coupled the vibrations of two beams, and the symmetric additional mass suppressed the nonlinear frequency doubling phenomenon, thus suppressing low or high frequencies. Also, the effect of pipeline defects simulated under asymmetric additional mass was obtained through numerical analysis and experimental data. Flowmeters with a required measuring frequency range had the optimal suppression effect on nonlinear frequency doubling and provided theoretical guidance for the nondestructive testing of measuring tubes.

Emulation of Astrocyte Induced Neural Phase Synchrony in Spin-Orbit Torque Oscillator Neurons

Astrocytes play a central role in inducing concerted phase synchronized neural-wave patterns inside the brain. In this article, we demonstrate that injected radio-frequency signal in underlying heavy metal layer of spin-orbit torque oscillator neurons mimic the neuron phase synchronization effect realized by glial cells. Potential application of such phase coupling effects is illustrated in the context of a temporal “binding problem.” We also present the design of a coupled neuron-synapse-astrocyte network enabled by compact neuromimetic devices by combining the concepts of local spike-timing dependent plasticity and astrocyte induced neural phase synchrony.

Reconciliation of theoretical and empirical brain criticality via network heterogeneity

Inspired by heterogeneity in biological neural networks, we explore a heterogeneous network consisting of receipt, transmission and computation layers. It reconciles the dilemma that the data analysis scheme for empirical records yields non-power laws when applied to microscopic simulation of critical neural dynamics. Detailed analysis shows that the reconciliation is due to synchronization effect of the feedforward connectivity. The network favours avalanches with denser activity in the first half of life, and the result is consistent with the experimental observation. This heterogeneous structure facilitates robust criticality against external stimuli, which implies the inappropriateness of interpreting the subcritcality signature as an indication of subcrtical dynamics. These results propose the network heterogeneity as an essential piece for understanding the brain criticality.

Peculiarities of Synchronization in a Two-Layer Network of Chaotic Maps with Inhomogeneous Interlayer Coupling

This paper considers the effects of forced and mutual synchronization of complex spatio-temporal structures in a two-layer network of nonlocally coupled logistic maps in the presence of inhomogeneous interlayer coupling. Two different types of coupling topology are considered: the first one is the sparse interlayer coupling with randomly distributed coupling defects, and the second type is the cluster interlayer coupling, providing the coupling via designated finite groups of elements. The latter type of coupling topology is considered for the first time. As a quantitative measure of the synchronization effect on the network, variance averaged over time and variance averaged both over time and network elements are used. We analyze how the synchronization measure changes depending on a degree of the interlayer coupling sparseness. We also identify a cluster of network elements which can provide almost complete synchronization in the network under study when the interlayer coupling is introduced along them.

Stochastic synchronization of dynamics on the human connectome

Synchronization is a collective mechanism by which oscillatory networks achieve their functions. Factors driving synchronization include the network’s topological and dynamical properties. However, how these factors drive the emergence of synchronization in the presence of potentially disruptive external inputs like stochastic perturbations is not well understood, particularly for real-world systems such as the human brain. Here, we aim to systematically address this problem using a large-scale model of the human brain network (i.e., the human connectome). The results show that the model can produce complex synchronization patterns transitioning between incoherent and coherent states. When nodes in the network are coupled at some critical strength, a counterintuitive phenomenon emerges where the addition of noise increases the synchronization of global and local dynamics, with structural hub nodes benefiting the most. This stochastic synchronization effect is found to be driven by the intrinsic hierarchy of neural timescales of the brain and the heterogeneous complex topology of the connectome. Moreover, the effect coincides with clustering of node phases and node frequencies and strengthening of the functional connectivity of some of the connectome’s subnetworks. Overall, the work provides broad theoretical insights into the emergence and mechanisms of stochastic synchronization, highlighting its putative contribution in achieving network integration underpinning brain function.

Imbalance between Emotionally Negative and Positive Life Events Retrieval and the Associated Asymmetry of Brain Activity

Sustained focusing on a negative assessment of life events can create negative background and changes in the emotional feedback to new information. In this regard, it is important to assess the balance between self-assessment of emotional memories and their reflection in brain activity. The study was aimed at exploring the brain activity using electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis in six frequency ranges from delta to beta2 during the retrieval of positive or negative emotional memory compared with the resting state. According to ANOVA results, the most informative for differentiation of emotions were the alpha2 and beta2 rhythms with greater synchronization effect for positive than for negative emotions. The memory retrieval, regardless of the valence of emotions, was accompanied by alpha1 desynchronization at the posterior cortex. Self-assessment of the memory intensity was not significantly different due to emotion valences. However, the scores of positive emotions were related positively with beta2 oscillations at the left anterior temporal site, whereas for negative emotions, at the right one. Thus, the emotional autobiographical memory is reflected by activation processes in the visual cortex and areas associated with multimodal information processing, whereas differentiation of the valence of emotions is presented by the high-frequency oscillations at the temporal cortex areas.

Measurements of the Hydrodynamic and Vibrational Characteristics to Validate Numerical Calculations of the Structure Excitation by Fluid Flow

Structure vibration under the influence of unsteady hydrodynamic forces caused by the flow around their surfaces can adversely affect durability and rupture life. Reducing the adverse effects of hydrodynamic forces is currently possible with the help of linked CFD and vibration calculations. However, for an adequate description of the associated processes one should use calculation models and approaches specific to the hydro-vibration problem. To justify and validate such approaches, an experimental model was developed and a series of structure excitation tests in water flow was carried out.The model comprises two cylinders installed sequentially in water crossflow. Vibration levels, pressure and velocity fluctuations were measured in the tests as a functions of the flow velocity. The application of different non-intrusive measurement techniques was possible due to relatively simple test model construction which may be used for cross-validation and experimental uncertainty quantification.Flow-structure interaction, caused by synchronization effect of the flow separation frequency (or it’s spectral components) and eigenfrequency of cylinder, was analyzed based on simultaneously measured data. The tests performed gave the information about dynamical characteristics of the flow and vibration parameters of cantilevered cylinders. The experimental results are used for identification of required accuracy of hydrodynamic forces calculation by CFD and validation of oneand two-way linked methods for flow excitation frequency calculation.