Abstract
Hyperscanning studies, wherein brain activity is recorded from multiple participants simultaneously, offer an opportunity to investigate interpersonal dynamics during interactive tasks at the neurophysiological level. In this study, we employed a dyadic juggling paradigm and electroencephalography (EEG) hyperscanning to evaluate functional connectivity between EEG sources within and between jugglers’ brains during individual and interactive juggling. We applied graph theoretical measures to identify significant differences in functional connectivity between the individual and interactive juggling conditions. Connectivity was measured in multiple juggler pairs with various skill levels where dyads were either skill-level matched or skill-level unmatched. We observed that global efficiency was reduced during paired juggling for less skilled jugglers and increased for more skilled jugglers. When jugglers were skill-level matched, additional reductions were found in the mean clustering coefficient and small-world topology during interactive juggling. A significant difference in hemispheric brain lateralization was detected between skill-level matched and skill-level unmatched jugglers during interactive juggling: matched jugglers had an increased right hemisphere lateralization while unmatched jugglers had an increased left hemisphere lateralization. These results reveal multiple differences in functional brain networks during individual and interactive juggling and suggest that similarities and disparities in individual skills can impact inter-brain dynamics in the performance and learning of motor tasks.
Highlights
Juggling is a unique and complex skill that depends on multiple perceptual-motor and cognitive abilities and processes including coordination, visuo-spatial attention, motor vigilance, performance related self-monitoring, and sensorimotor learning (Sánchez García et al, 2013; Rodrigues et al, 2016)
The three-factor ANOVA test of global efficiency (G) revealed a significant condition (SOLO vs. paired juggling (PAIRED)) by skill-level interaction such that the less skilled juggler showed a decrease in G whereas the more skilled juggler showed an increase in G during PAIRED juggling compared to the SOLO juggling condition [F(1,5) = 8.392, p = 0.034, ηp2 = 0.627, Power = 0.643; Figure 4A)
We found multiple significant differences in functional connectivity between individual and interactive juggling, including differences in global efficiency, which depended upon individual skill-level, and hemispheric lateralization, which depended upon similarities and differences in skill-level
Summary
Juggling is a unique and complex skill that depends on multiple perceptual-motor and cognitive abilities and processes including coordination, visuo-spatial attention, motor vigilance, performance related self-monitoring, and sensorimotor learning (Sánchez García et al, 2013; Rodrigues et al, 2016). Advances in neuroimaging, which permit the acquisition of brain data in Hyperscanning of Interactive Juggling: Role of Expertise ecological settings during active movement (Thompson et al, 2008), have allowed opportunities to study these processes at the neurophysiological level. As a consequence, juggling has been used to investigate skill acquisition, motor learning, and expert performance by examining movement related cortical potentials and functional and structural brain connectivity (Gerber et al, 2014; Schiavone et al, 2015; Berchicci et al, 2017). By acquiring neuroimaging data from multiple participants simultaneously (i.e., via hyperscanning) these factors can be investigated at the neurophysiological level
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