Quantifying oral communication quality by measuring inter-brain synchronization using fNIRS hyperscanning

• Project/Area Number: 17KT0056
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 特設分野
• Research Field: Orality and Society
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: KAWASHIMA Ryuta 東北大学, 加齢医学研究所, 教授 (90250828)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-07-18 – 2021-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2020)
• Budget Amount: ¥18,460,000 (Direct Cost: ¥14,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥4,260,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥6,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,000,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,500,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥5,720,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,320,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥6,240,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,440,000)
• Keywords: 脳活動計測 / 背内側前頭前野 / 背外側前頭前野 / 脳領域間の脳同調 / 超小型近赤外分光装置 / コミュニケーション / 脳血流 / NIRS / 同期 / 共在や共感の質的評価 / 超小型NIRS / 脳活動同期 / ニューロ・フィードバック

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this project was to investigate the difference between face-to-face and online communication by measuring inter-brain synchronization using portable fNIRS hyperscanning. We recruited 30 healthy university students as participants. Five participants with the same sex made a group. We arranged two group conditions (face-to-face communication group and online communication group). Regions of interest were the right dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (DMPFC) and the left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) to measure brain activities reflecting social cognition and linguistic thinking. We calculated a wavelet transform coherence to evaluate a strength of the inter-brain synchronization. We found the strong inter-brain synchronization in the DMPFC in the face-to-face communication group compared to the online communication group in the period of 8-10 seconds. And we found the strong inter-brain synchronization in the left DLPFC in the period of 21-24 seconds.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、オラリティの質に関わる脳活動を定量化するために超小型近赤外分光装置を用いて生活環境下における集団会話中の脳同調度を計測し、対面での会話とオンライン上での会話の違いを検証した世界で初めての研究である。本研究で得られた基礎的な知見をニューロフィードバックに応用することで、将来的にはSNSやWeb会議システムなど共在・共感・共鳴を減衰させるようなメディアを介したオラリティの質を向上させる介入法の開発へ繋がることが期待される。