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Herding Brains: A Core Neural Mechanism for Social Alignment

When we clap our hands in synchrony, feel the sadness of a friend, or match our attitudes to peer norms, we align our behavior with others. We propose here a model that views synchronized movement, emotional contagion, and social conformity as interrelated processes that rely on shared neural networ...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Trends in cognitive sciences 2019-03, Vol.23 (3), p.174-186
Main Authors: Shamay-Tsoory, Simone G., Saporta, Nira, Marton-Alper, Inbar Z., Gvirts, Hila Z.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:When we clap our hands in synchrony, feel the sadness of a friend, or match our attitudes to peer norms, we align our behavior with others. We propose here a model that views synchronized movement, emotional contagion, and social conformity as interrelated processes that rely on shared neural networks. Building on the predictive coding framework, we suggest that social alignment is mediated by a three-component feedback loop – an error-monitoring system that reacts to misalignment, an alignment system, and a reward system that is activated when alignment is achieved. We describe herding-related syndromes (autism, loneliness) and call for innovative research to investigate the links between the levels of alignment. Traditionally, the diverse behaviors that involve social alignment have been considered individually. We synthesize models of collective action across species with an emerging body of neuroscience, neurocomputational, and psychology research to propose that different manifestations of social alignment are actually linked, with motor synchrony, emotional alignment, and conformity influencing one another in a reciprocal manner. Building on the predictive coding framework, we argue that these different levels of alignment reflect the workings of a prototype feedback-loop model. The social alignment feedback loop includes three core components. One system is in place to react to alignment, and another system reacts to misalignment. Based on the misalignment detected, a further system is responsible for aligning to the point of perceived alignment.
ISSN:1364-6613
1879-307X
DOI:10.1016/j.tics.2019.01.002