An emerging body of hyperscanning functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) research shows interbrain neural synchrony (IBS) during different forms of social interaction. Here we review the recent literature and propose several factors that facilitate IBS, leading us to ask the following question: In a world full of people and opportunities to synchronize with them, what directs our neural and behavioral alignment with anyone specific? We suggest that IBS between what we deem the “mutual social attention systems” of interacting partners—that is, the coupling between participants’ temporoparietal junctions and/or prefrontal cortices—facilitates and enhances the ability to tune in to the specific interaction, its participants and its goals. We propose that this process is linked to social alignment, reinforcing one another to facilitate successful and lucrative social interactions. We further suggest that neurochemical mechanisms of dopamine and oxytocin underlie the activation of this suggested loop. Finally, we suggest possible directions for future studies, emphasizing the need to develop a brain-to-brain neurofeedback system with IBS between the mutual social attention systems of the participants as the direct regulating target.

超扫描功能近红外光谱（fNIRS）研究的新兴机构显示，在不同形式的社交互动过程中，大脑间神经同步（IBS）。在这里，我们回顾最近的文献并提出促进IBS的几个因素，使我们提出以下问题：在一个充满人和与他们同步的机会的世界中，什么使我们的神经和行为与特定的人保持一致？我们建议，IBS在我们认为是互动伙伴的“相互社会关注系统”之间，即参与者的颞顶交界处和/或前额叶皮层之间的耦合，有助于并增强其参与者的特定互动的能力。及其目标。我们建议，此过程与社会统一感相关，彼此加强，以促进成功而有利可图的社会互动。我们进一步建议，多巴胺和催产素的神经化学机制是该提示环的激活基础。最后，我们为未来的研究提供了可能的方向，并强调需要在参与者的相互关注社会系统之间建立以IBS为基础的脑对脑神经反馈系统，作为直接的调节目标。