image: Norihiro Sadato and colleagues used a technique called hyperscanning functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) imaging to observe two people as they gazed into their partner's eyes. A video camera and screen in each person's fMRI scanner allowed the researchers to compare brain activity during this social task in real-time or with a 20-second delay. view more
Credit: Koike et al., <em>eNeuro</em> (2019)
Eye contact between two individuals simultaneously activates the same areas of each person's brain, according to a neuroimaging study of human adult pairs published in eNeuro. The research emphasizes real-time eye contact as the basis for effective social interaction.
Norihiro Sadato and colleagues used a technique called hyperscanning functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) imaging to observe two people as they gazed into their partner's eyes. A video camera and screen in each person's fMRI scanner allowed the researchers to compare brain activity during this social task in real-time or with a 20-second delay.
The live condition was associated with a mutual influence between the partners' eye-blinks, increased activation of the cerebellum, and enhanced connectivity within the limbic mirror system. These behavioral and neural findings suggest real-time eye contact prepares the social brain for sharing mental states with others. This study also represents an advance over previous eye-contact research involving single participants.
###
Article: What makes eye contact special? Neural substrates of on-line mutual eyegaze: a hyperscanning fMRI study
DOI: https://www.eneuro.org/lookup/doi/10.1523/ENEURO.0284-18.2019
Corresponding author: Norihiro Sadato (National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Okazaki, Japan), sadato@nips.ac.jp
About eNeuro
eNeuro, the Society for Neuroscience's open-access journal launched in 2014, publishes rigorous neuroscience research with double-blind peer review that masks the identity of both the authors and reviewers, minimizing the potential for implicit biases. eNeuro is distinguished by a broader scope and balanced perspective achieved by publishing negative results, failure to replicate or replication studies. New research, computational neuroscience, theories and methods are also published.
About The Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 37,000 members in more than 90 countries and over 130 chapters worldwide.
Journal
eNeuro