The Power of Social Bonds: How Friendship Synchronizes Our Brains and Boosts Communication
In a world where communication is key, a recent study has shed light on how social bonds can literally get people on the same wavelength. The research, led by Jun Ni from Beijing Normal University in China, reveals that when small groups form social bonds, their brain activity synchronizes, leading to more efficient and frequent communication.
Hierarchies are a common feature of social groups, with status differences and bonds between members shaping the dynamics of the group. Ni and his team sought to understand how these bonds influence communication within hierarchical groups and which areas of the brain are involved in these processes.
The researchers observed 176 groups of three people, none of whom had met before. The participants sat face-to-face in a triangle, communicating while their brain activity was non-invasively measured using caps fitted with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) electrodes. Each group democratically selected a leader, resulting in a trio composed of one leader and two followers. After strategizing together, the groups participated in two economic games designed to assess their willingness to make sacrifices for the benefit of their group.
Some groups were assigned to a bonding session, where they were grouped based on color preferences, given uniforms, and led through an introductory chat session to build familiarity. The researchers found that these bonded groups communicated more freely and rapidly, with conversation bouncing between speakers more frequently compared to groups that didn’t experience this bonding session. This effect was stronger between leaders and followers than between two followers.
Interestingly, the researchers found that the brain activity in two regions linked to social interaction - the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (rDLPFC) and the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ) - synchronized between leaders and followers in bonded groups. This suggests that leaders might be anticipating the mental states of their followers during group decision-making.
However, the authors caution that their findings are limited to East Asian Chinese individuals communicating via text, a culture that emphasizes group cohesion and commitment to group leaders. Despite these limitations, the study provides a fascinating glimpse into the neurocognitive mechanisms behind social bonding and its role in facilitating the hierarchical structure of human groups.
In the words of the authors, “Social bonding increases information exchange and prefrontal neural synchronization selectively among individuals with different social statuses, providing a potential neurocognitive explanation for how social bonding facilitates the hierarchical structure of human groups.”
This groundbreaking research is freely available in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.
