Although the neural systems that underlie spoken language are well-known, how they adapt to evolving social cues during natural conversations remains an unanswered question. In this work we investigate the neural correlates of face-to-face conversations between two individuals using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and acoustical analyses of concurrent audio recordings. Nineteen pairs of healthy adults engaged in live discussions on two controversial topics where their opinions were either in agreement or disagreement. Participants were matched according to their a priori opinions on these topics as assessed by questionnaire. Acoustic measures of the recorded speech including the fundamental frequency range, median fundamental frequency, syllable rate, and acoustic energy were elevated during disagreement relative to agreement. Consistent with both the a priori opinion ratings and the acoustic findings, neural activity associated with long-range functional networks, rather than the canonical language areas, was also differentiated by the two conditions. Specifically, the frontoparietal system including bilateral dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, left supramarginal gyrus, angular gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus showed increased activity while talking during disagreement. In contrast, talking during agreement was characterized by increased activity in a social and attention network including right supramarginal gyrus, bilateral frontal eye-fields, and left frontopolar regions. Further, these social and visual attention networks were more synchronous across brains during agreement than disagreement. Rather than localized modulation of the canonical language system, these findings are most consistent with a model of distributed and adaptive language-related processes including cross-brain neural coupling that serves dynamic verbal exchanges.

中文翻译：

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面对面对话中的人际协议和分歧：一项 fNIRS 调查

尽管作为口语基础的神经系统是众所周知的，但它们如何在自然对话中适应不断变化的社会线索仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。在这项工作中，我们使用功能性近红外光谱 (fNIRS) 和并发录音的声学分析来研究两个人面对面对话的神经关联。19 对健康的成年人就两个有争议的话题进行了现场讨论，他们的意见要么一致，要么不同。参与者根据他们通过问卷评估对这些主题的先验意见进行匹配。在相对于协议的分歧期间，所记录语音的声学测量值，包括基频范围、中值基频、音节率和声能都得到了提升。与先验意见评级和声学发现一致，与远程功能网络相关的神经活动，而不是规范语言区域，也因这两种情况而有所不同。具体而言，包括双侧背外侧前额叶皮层、左缘上回、角回和颞上回在内的额顶系统在意见分歧时表现出增加的活动。相比之下，在协议期间谈话的特点是社交和注意力网络中的活动增加，包括右缘上回、双侧额叶眼区和左额极区。此外，这些社交和视觉注意力网络在达成一致的过程中，大脑之间的同步性比不一致的要高。而不是规范语言系统的本地化调制，