Generations bond differently: brain waves reveal how relationships form
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Researchers at ETH Zurich in Switzerland studied how brain activity changes as people form relationships, focusing on pairs of different ages. Ryssa Moffat and Emily S. Cross led a study where 61 pairs of strangers, 31 young-old and 30 young-young, collaborated on drawing projects over six weeks.
The scientists used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure interpersonal neural synchrony, tracking alignment in brain activity while participants worked.
They focused on the temporoparietal junction and inferior frontal gyrus, brain regions involved in social understanding and attention. The study found that while feelings of loneliness decreased and social closeness increased for all pairs, brain synchronization changed in opposite directions. Same-age pairs showed increasing neural synchronization over time, while different-age pairs showed decreasing synchronization. Researchers believe this difference stems from how each group establishes common ground.
Younger adults may actively seek novelty to maintain engagement, while older and younger adults may predict each other’s actions more easily as they become familiar. The researchers also discovered a link between reported social closeness and brain activity. Higher closeness correlated with greater synchronization in specific brain regions. They caution against assuming that more synchrony is always better, suggesting an optimal balance may exist.
The study was limited by focusing on specific brain areas and restricting verbal communication, and did not include pairs of older adults for comparison.
