Name: Group Synchronization During Collaborative Drawing Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (Video) | JoVE Journal
Uploaded: 2022-08-05T14:00:00.000+00:00
Duration: 7 min 53 s
Description: Learn to assess group synchronization using fNIRS during collaborative drawing tasks with quartets. This protocol measures hemodynamic responses and behavioral patterns to study interpersonal neural dynamics in social neuroscience research.

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5 minutes

The authors thank Instituto do C&#233;rebro (InCe-IIEP) and Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein (HIAE) for this study support.&#160;Special thanks to Jos&#233; Bel&#233;m de Oliveira Neto for the English proofreading of this article.

Paulo Rodrigo Baz&#225;n has provided freelance scientific consulting to NIRx Medizintechnik GmbH and to Brain Support Corporation, which is a distributor of NIRx Medizintechnik GmbH. The other authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

This study aimed to create a protocol using hyperscanning on four brains concurrently under naturalistic conditions. The experimental paradigm used different drawing tasks and the correlation of multiple outcome measures, drawing metrics, behaviors, and brain signals. The critical steps within this protocol are the consideration of the challenges arising from its high complexity and the maintenance of its ecological and naturalistic conditions.
Video observation was key to this study. It&#160;...

Interpersonal interaction behavior is an important component of the process of connecting and creating empathic bonds. Previous research indicates that this behavior can be expressed in the occurrence of synchronicity, when biological and behavioral signals align during social contact. Evidence shows that synchronicity can occur between people interacting for the first time1,2,3. Most studies on social interactions and their underlying neural mechanisms use a single person or second person approach2,4, and little is known about transposing this knowledge to group social dynamics. Evaluating interpersonal responses in groups of three or more individuals is still a challenge for scientific research. This leads to the necessity of bringing to the laboratory the complex environment of social interactions in everyday human beings under naturalistic conditions5.
In this context, the functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) technique is a promising tool for assessing the relationships between interpersonal interaction in naturalistic contexts and its brain correlates. It presents fewer restrictions on participant mobility compared to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and is resilient to motion artifacts6,7. The fNIRS technique works by assessing hemodynamic effects in response to brain activation (changes in blood concentration of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin). These variations can be measured by the amount of diffusion of infrared light through scalp tissue. Previous studies have demonstrated the flexibility and robustness of the technique in ecological hyperscanning experiments and the potential to expand knowledge in applied neuroscience6,8.
The choice of an experimental task for the naturalistic assessment of the neural correlates of social interaction processes in groups is a crucial step in approaching applied neuroscience studies9.&#160;Some examples already reported in the literature with the use of fNIRS in group paradigms include music performance10,11,12, classroom interaction8, and communication13,14,15,16,17.
One of the aspects not yet explored by previous studies is the use of drawing games that have as the main feature the manipulation of empathic components to assess social interaction. In this context, one of the games frequently used to induce social interaction in dynamics among strangers is the collaborative drawing game18,19. In this game, sheets of paper are divided into equal parts, and the group participants are challenged to draw shared self-portraits of all members. In the end, each member has their portrait drawn in a collaborative way by several hands.
The objective is to promote quick integration among strangers, provoked by directing visual attention to the faces of the group partners. It can be considered an &#34;ice-breaking&#34; activity due to its ability to support curiosity and consequent empathic processes among the members19.
One of the advantages of using drawing tasks is their simplicity and ease of reproduction20. They also do not require any specific technical training or skills, as seen in the studies using musical performance paradigms21,22,23,24. This simplicity also enables the choice of a more naturalistic stimulus within a social context4,9,25.
Besides being an instrument for inducing social behavior in groups, drawing is also considered a tool for psychological evaluation26. Some graphic-projective psychological tests, such as House-Tree-Person (HTP)27,28,29, Human Figure Drawing - Sisto Scale27, and Kinetic Family Drawing30&#160;are used in a complementary way for qualitative and quantitative diagnoses. Their results usually express unconscious processes, giving clues about the individual&#39;s symbolic system and, therefore, their interpretations of the world, experiences, affections, etc.
The practice of drawing makes one think and helps create meaning for experiences and things, adding sensations, feelings, thoughts, and actions31. It gives clues about how to perceive and process these life experiences26. Drawing uses visual codes to allow one to understand and communicate thoughts or feelings, making them accessible to manipulation and, thus, creating the possibility for new ideas and readings31.
In art therapy, drawing is a tool to work on attention, memory, and organization of thoughts and feelings32, and it can be used as means to produce social interaction33.
This study aimed to develop a naturalistic experimental protocol to assess vascular and behavioral brain responses during interpersonal interaction in quartets using a collaborative drawing dynamic. In this protocol, the evaluation of the brain responses of the quartet (individually and the synchronicity between partners) and the possible outcome measures, such as behavioral measures (drawing and gaze behavior)&#160;are proposed. The aim is to provide more information on social neuroscience.

<table><tbody><tr><td>2 NIRSport&amp;nbsp;</td><td>NIRx Medizintechnik GmbH, Germany</td><td>Nirsport 88</td><td>The equipment belong to InCe ( Instituto do C&amp;eacute;rebro - Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein). two continuous-wave systems (NIRSport8x8, NIRx Medical Technologies, Glen Head, NY, USA) with eight LED illumination sources emitting two wavelengths of near-infrared light (760 and 850 nm) and eight optical detectors each. 7.91 Hz. Data were acquired with the NIRStar software version 15.2&amp;nbsp; (NIRx Medical Technologies, Glen Head, New York) at a sampling rate of 3.472222.</td></tr><tr><td>4 fNIRS caps</td><td>NIRx Medizintechnik GmbH, Germany</td><td></td><td>The blackcaps used in the recordings had a configuration based on the international 10-20</td></tr><tr><td>C&amp;acirc;mera 360&amp;deg; - Kodak Pix Pro SP360</td><td>Kodak</td><td></td><td>Kodak PixPro:&amp;nbsp;https://kodakpixpro.com/cameras/360-vr/sp360</td></tr><tr><td>Cameras de suporte - Iphone 8</td><td>Apple</td><td>Iphone 8</td><td>Supporting Camera</td></tr><tr><td>fOLD toolbox (fNIRS Optodes&amp;rsquo; Location Decider)</td><td>Zimeo Morais, G.A., Balardin, J.B. &amp;amp; Sato, J.R. fNIRS Optodes&amp;rsquo; Location Decider (fOLD): a toolbox for probe arrangement guided by brain regions-of-interest.&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Scientific Reports.&lt;/em&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;strong&gt;8,&lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;3341 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-21716-z</td><td>Version 2.2 (https://github.com/nirx/fOLD-public)</td><td>Optodes placement was guided by the fOLD toolbox (fNIRS Optodes&amp;rsquo; Location Decider, which allows placement of sources and detectors in the international 10&amp;ndash;10 system to maximally cover anatomical regions of interest according to several parcellation atlases. The ICBM 152 head model&amp;nbsp; parcellation was used to generate the montage, which was designed to provide coverage of the most anterior portion of the bilateral prefrontal cortex</td></tr><tr><td>Notebook Microsoft Surface</td><td>Microsoft</td><td></td><td>Notebook receiver of the fNIRS signals</td></tr><tr><td>R platform for statistical computing&amp;nbsp;</td><td>https://www.r-project.org&amp;nbsp;</td><td>R version 4.2.0</td><td>R is a free software environment for statistical computing and graphics. It compiles and runs on a wide variety of UNIX platforms, Windows and MacOS</td></tr><tr><td>REDCap</td><td>REDCap is supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NCATS UL1 TR000445)</td><td></td><td>REDCap is a secure web application for building and managing online surveys and databases.</td></tr><tr><td>software Mangold Interact</td><td>Mangold International GmbH, Ed.&amp;nbsp;</td><td>interact 5.0</td><td>Mangold:&amp;nbsp;https://www.mangold-international.com/en/products/software/behavior-research-with-mangold-interact.html. Allows analysis of videos for behavioral outcomes and of autonomic monitoring for emotionally driven physiological changes (may require additional software, such as DataView). Allow the use of different camera types simultaneously and hundreds of variations of coding methods.</td></tr><tr><td>software NIRSite</td><td>NIRx Medizintechnik GmbH, Germany</td><td>NIRSite 2.0</td><td>For creating the montage and help optode placement and location in the blackcaps.</td></tr><tr><td>software nirsLAB-2014</td><td>NIRx Medizintechnik GmbH, Germany</td><td>nirsLAB 2014</td><td>fNIRS Data Processing</td></tr><tr><td>software NIRStar</td><td>NIRx Medizintechnik GmbH, Germany</td><td>version 15.2</td><td>&amp;nbsp;for fNIRS data aquisition: NIRStar software version 15.2&amp;nbsp; at a sampling rate of 3.472222</td></tr><tr><td>software NIRStim</td><td>NIRx Medizintechnik GmbH, Germany</td><td></td><td>&amp;nbsp;For creation and organization of paradigm blocks</td></tr></tbody></table>

group synchronization during collaborative drawing using functional near-infrared spectroscopy

Group Synchronization During Collaborative Drawing Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a noninvasive method particularly suitable for measuring cerebral cortex activation in multiple subjects, which is relevant for studying group interpersonal interactions in ecological settings. Although many fNIRS systems technically offer the possibility to monitor more than two individuals simultaneously, establishing easy-to-implement setup procedures and reliable paradigms to track hemodynamic and behavioral responses in group interaction is still required. The present protocol combines fNIRS and video-based observation to measure interpersonal synchronization in quartets during a cooperative task.This protocol provides practical recommendations for data acquisition and paradigm design, as well as guiding principles for an illustrative data analysis example. The procedure is designed to assess differences in brain and behavior interpersonal responses between social and non-social conditions inspired by a well-known ice-breaker activity, the Collaborative Face Drawing Task. The described procedures can guide future studies to adapt group naturalistic social interaction activities to the fNIRS environment.

The protocol was applied to a quartet composed of young women (24-27 years old), all of them students on postgraduate programs (Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brasil), with master's or doctorate level education. All participants were right-handed, and only one reported having previous drawing experience. No participants had a reported history of neurological disorders.
For the scales and psychological test results, two participants (2 and 4) showed high scores for anxiety (17 a...

The present protocol combines functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and video-based observationto measure interpersonal synchronization in quartets during a collaborative drawing task.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a noninvasive method particularly suitable for measuring cerebral cortex activation in multiple subjects, ...

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Source: Reindl, V., et al. Conducting Hyperscanning Experiments with Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy. J. Vis. Exp. (2019) This video demonstrates the use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to measure brain activity during social interactions. Participants engage in a coordinated task that increases activity in the prefrontal cortex, a region critical for social behavior, while the system detects changes in light absorption due to blood oxygenation. By analyzing the synchrony...

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Learn to assess group synchronization using fNIRS during collaborative drawing tasks with quartets. This protocol measures hemodynamic responses and behavioral patterns to study interpersonal neural dynamics in social neuroscience research.

Group Synchronization During Collaborative Drawing Using Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

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