The Relationship between Hostile Attribution Bias, Eye Correction and Non-eye Correction during Inter-Personal Synchronization

Background: The synchronisation of brain activity among individuals is essential for social cognition and engagement. However, elements like hostile attribution bias may impair interpersonal neural synchronisation and inhibit fruitful social interaction. The consequences of eye contact as vision enhancing elements are yet unknown. Understanding normal and abnormal social functioning depends significantly on elucidating the cognitive and neurological mechanisms that determine real-time social dynamics. Aims: This EEG hyper-scanning study sought to better understand the connections between inter-brain synchronisation during dyadic interaction, eye contact vs. no eye contact circumstances, and hostile attribution bias. It specifically looked at how changes in eye contact, hostile and benign attribution, and hostile attribution and benign attribution impact the level of neural synchronisation between two interacting people. Methods: 148 individuals took part in an activity demanding social collaboration and coordination and were split into groups of 74 for eye contact and 74 for no eye contact. The SIP-AEQ questionnaire was used to evaluate hostile and benign attribution bias. The ciPLV metric in the gamma band (30-45 Hz) was used to measure interbrain synchronisation. Results: Participants’ inter-brain synchronisation was somewhat less when they were more hostile than when they were less hostile, indicating that hostile social cognition may cause disruptions in neural alignment. However, the effect of benign attribution was nonexistent. Importantly, eye contact and attribution style had no effect on synchronisation. Discussion: The results of this investigation offer preliminary evidence that hostile attribution bias impairs social cognition and neural harmonisation, which in turn interferes with interpersonal brain coupling. Eye contact might not be enough to make up for the negative impacts of ingrained hostility on social interactions. Future hyper-scanning studies should overcome sample, design, and EEG analytical method limitations to better understand the brain dynamics driving social dysfunction in real-world human interactions. The potential of dual-brain imaging for figuring out the cognitive underpinnings of social sensitivity and associated psychopathology is highlighted by the findings as a whole.