Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42266059›Full record

ArticleSocial cognitive and affective neuroscience2026

Making new connections: an fNIRS machine learning classification study of inter-brain synchrony in the default mode network.

Grace Qiyuan Miao, Ian J Lieberman, Ashley L Binnquist, Agnieszka Pluta, Bear M Goldstein, Rick Dale, Matthew D Lieberman

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Grace Qiyuan MiaoDepartment of Communication, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7171-0542
Ian J LiebermanDepartment of Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, United States.
Ashley L BinnquistDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7993-943X
Agnieszka PlutaFaculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, 02-097, Poland.ORCID 0000-0002-4684-1919
Bear M GoldsteinDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-9724-206X
Rick DaleDepartment of Communication, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7865-474X
Matthew D LiebermanDepartment of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-4447-7359

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Little is known about the neurocognitive underpinnings of forming social connections. In this study, we tested whether default mode network (DMN) inter-brain synchrony (which prior work has linked to interpersonal alignment, or "seeing eye-to-eye") predicts feelings of connection during conversations. Seventy pairs of strangers engaged in shallow or deep conversations while brain activity was measured with functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Stranger dyads in the deep condition felt more connected than those in the shallow condition. Greater feelings of connection were associated with increased DMN synchrony, with the right temporoparietal junction (TPJ) subregion of the DMN emerging as the strongest individual predictor across regression analyses and machine learning classification. These findings suggest that DMN synchrony in general and TPJ synchrony in particular may play a key role in strangers coming to "see eye-to-eye" during face-to-face interactions and feeling more socially connected.

Indexed as

BrainDefault Mode NetworkInterpersonal RelationsMachine LearningBrain MappingEmotionsFemaleHumansMaleSpectroscopy, Near-InfraredYoung Adultcommunicationdefault mode networkfunctional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)inter-brain synchronysocial connection

Identifiers

PMID42266059
PMCPMC13390283

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LicenceCC BY
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.