Abstract
It is often necessary for individuals to coordinate their actions with others. In the real world, joint actions rely on the direct observation of co-actors and rhythmic cues. But how are joint actions coordinated when such cues are unavailable? To address this question, we recorded brain activity while pairs of participants guided a cursor to a target either individually (solo control) or together with a partner (joint control) from whom they were physically and visibly separated. Behavioural patterns revealed that joint action involved real-time coordination between co-actors and improved accuracy for the lower performing co-actor. Concurrent neural recordings and eye tracking revealed that joint control affected cognitive processing across multiple stages. Joint control involved increases in both behavioural and neural coupling – both quantified as interpersonal correlations – peaking at action completion. Correspondingly, a neural offset response acted as a mechanism for and marker of interpersonal neural coupling, underpinning successful joint actions.
Highlights
It is often necessary for individuals to coordinate their actions with others
Previous human studies have tended to measure behavioural performance in isolation, without considering how concurrent brain activity might reveal latent processes associated with task performance[40,41]
The action control cue contingency was made explicit to participants, and cue colours were counterbalanced across participant pairs (Fig. 1c)
Summary
It is often necessary for individuals to coordinate their actions with others. In the real world, joint actions rely on the direct observation of co-actors and rhythmic cues. Previous human studies have tended to measure behavioural performance in isolation, without considering how concurrent brain activity might reveal latent processes associated with task performance[40,41] ( we note that recent technological advances have made neural recordings during joint action increasingly tractable[20,42]) We addressed these issues by having pairs of participants perform discrete, objectoriented actions while we recorded eye movements and brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG)[43,44]. We compared joint control to the same actions performed individually, allowing us to closely match visual inputs and motor outputs, thereby isolating the pure effects of joint action on behaviour and brain activity[30] Using this approach, the results provided a concrete mechanism for interpersonal neural coupling that excludes confounding factors and links neural coupling to real-time coordination between co-actors and successful and precise joint actions. The analyses identify a phase-locked electrophysiological component that underlies neural coupling under joint control
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