Intra-Brain Connectivity vs. Inter-Brain Connectivity in Gestures Reproduction: What Relationship?

Michela Balconi,Giulia Fronda

doi:10.3390/brainsci11050577

Abstract

Recently, the neurosciences have become interested in the investigation of neural responses associated with the use of gestures. This study focuses on the relationship between the intra-brain and inter-brain connectivity mechanisms underlying the execution of different categories of gestures (positive and negative affective, social, and informative) characterizing non-verbal interactions between thirteen couples of subjects, each composed of an encoder and a decoder. The study results underline a similar modulation of intra- and inter-brain connectivity for alpha, delta, and theta frequency bands in specific areas (frontal or posterior regions) depending on the type of gesture. Moreover, taking into account the gestures’ valence (positive or negative), a similar modulation of intra- and inter-brain connectivity in the left and right sides was observed. This study showed congruence in the intra-brain and inter-brain connectivity trend during the execution of different gestures, underlining how non-verbal exchanges might be characterized by intra-brain phase alignment and implicit mechanisms of mirroring and synchronization between the two individuals involved in the social exchange.

Highlights

Brain Sci. 2021, 11, 577. https://Verbal and non-verbal communication processes are fundamental in individuals’lives, characterizing their daily interactions and conveying information with different purposes [1]
Post-hoc comparisons showed higher delta intra-brain connectivity in the frontal region compared to other ROIs for the affective and social gestures, and in the posterior region for the informative ones (Figure 2C,D, Table 1)
The bar chart shows the increase in frontal alpha intra-brain tra-brain connectivity for and affective social and gestures, and the posterior alpha connectivity intra-brain connectivity for connectivity for affective socialand gestures, the increase in increase posteriorinalpha intra-brain for informative informative ones

Summary

Introduction

Brain Sci. 2021, 11, 577. https://Verbal and non-verbal communication processes are fundamental in individuals’lives, characterizing their daily interactions and conveying information with different purposes [1]. Neuroscientific research has gradually moved towards understanding the neural mechanisms underlying the ability to observe, produce, recognize, and understand different types of gestures [7,8] with a different valence, which represents an essential aspect of human sociality [9]. This has led to the need to examine further how the affective connotations of non-verbal communication can influence non-verbal exchanges [10,11,12].

Results

Discussion

Conclusion