Three heads are better than one: cooperative learning brains wire together when a consensus is reached.

Theories of human learning converge on the view that individuals working together learn better than do those working independently. Little is known, however, about the neural mechanisms of learning through cooperation. We addressed this research gap by leveraging functional near-infrared spectroscopy to record the brain activity of triad members in a group simultaneously. Triads were instructed to analyze an ancient Chinese poem either cooperatively or independently. Four main findings emerged. First, we observed significant within-group neural synchronization (GNS) in the left superior temporal cortex, supramarginal gyrus, and postcentral gyrus during cooperative learning compared with independent learning. Second, the enhancement of GNS in triads was amplified when a consensus was reached (vs. elaboration or argument) during cooperative learning. Third, GNS was predictive of learning outcome at an early stage (156-170 s after learning was initiated). Fourth, social factors such as social closeness (e.g. how much learners liked one other) were reflected in GNS and co-varied with learning engagement. These results provide neuroscientific support for Piaget's theory of cognitive development and favor the notion that successful learning through cooperation involves dynamic consensus-building, which is captured in neural patterns shared across learners in a group.

Integration of social status and trust through interpersonal brain synchronization.

Trust can be a dynamic social process, during which the social identity of the interacting agents (e.g., an investor and a trustee) can bias trust outcomes. Here, we investigated how social status modulates trust and the neural mechanisms underlying this process. An investor and a trustee performed a 10-round repeated trust game while their brain activity was being simultaneously recorded using functional near-infrared spectroscopy. The social status (either high or low) of both investors and trustees was manipulated via a math competition task. The behavioral results showed that in the initial round, individuals invested more in low-status partners. However, the investment ratio increased faster as the number of rounds increased during trust interaction when individuals were paired with a high-status partner. This increasing trend was particularly prominent in the low (investor)-high (trustee) status group. Moreover, the low-high group showed increased investor-trustee brain synchronization in the right temporoparietal junction as the number of rounds increased, while brain activation in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex of the investor decreased as the number of rounds increased. Both interpersonal brain synchronization and brain activation predicted investment performance at the early stage; furthermore, two-brain data provided earlier predictions than did single-brain data. These effects were detectable in the investment phase in the low-high group only; no comparable effects were observed in the repayment phase or other groups. Overall, this study demonstrated a multi-brain mechanism for the integration of social status and trust.

Instructor-learner brain coupling discriminates between instructional approaches and predicts learning.

The neural mechanisms that support naturalistic learning via effective pedagogical approaches remain elusive. Here we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy to measure brain activity from instructor-learner dyads simultaneously during dynamic conceptual learning. Results revealed that brain-to-brain coupling was correlated with learning outcomes, and, crucially, appeared to be driven by specific scaffolding behaviors on the part of the instructors (e.g., asking guiding questions or providing hints). Brain-to-brain coupling enhancement was absent when instructors used an explanation approach (e.g., providing definitions or clarifications). Finally, we found that machine-learning techniques were more successful when decoding instructional approaches (scaffolding vs. explanation) from brain-to-brain coupling data than when using a single-brain method. These findings suggest that brain-to-brain coupling as a pedagogically relevant measure tracks the naturalistic instructional process during instructor-learner interaction throughout constructive engagement, but not information clarification.

The averaged inter-brain coherence between the audience and a violinist predicts the popularity of violin performance.

Why is some music well-received whereas other music is not? Previous research has indicated the close temporal dependencies of neural activity among performers and among audiences. However, it is unknown whether similar neural contingencies exist between performers and audiences. Here, we used dual near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to assess whether inter-brain synchronization between violinist and audience underlies the popularity of violin performance. In the experiment, individual audience members (16 females) watched pre-recorded videos, each lasting 100 â€‹s or so, in which a violinist performed 12 musical pieces. The results showed that the popularity of the performance correlated with the left-temporal inter-brain coherence (IBC) between the audience and the violinist. The correlation was stronger at late watching (>50 â€‹s) than at early watching (≤50 â€‹s). The smaller the Granger causality from the audience to the violinist was, the higher was the popularity of the piece with the audience. Discriminant analysis showed that the IBC could distinguish high popularity from low popularity. Further analysis using support vector regression showed that the IBC could also predict the popularity. These findings reveal the association of IBC with the popularity of violin performance. Music appreciation involves the brains of music producers and perceivers in a temporally aligned network through which audiences perceive the intentions of the performer and show positive emotions related to the musical performance.

MiR-338-3p inhibits cell migration and invasion in human hypopharyngeal cancer via downregulation of ADAM17.

Studies have confirmed that microRNAs play important roles in the development and progression of cancer. Therefore, to identify the differentially expressed microRNAs between the cancer and the normal tissues, microRNAs will provide new clues for exploring the molecular mechanisms of cancer development and potential targeted therapies. In the present study, we found that miR-338-3p was downregulated in hypopharyngeal carcinoma and inversely correlated with the pathological grade. When the miR-338-3p was further downregulated, the migration and invasion ability of the FaDu hypopharyngeal carcinoma cells were enhanced, and these functions were inhibited when the miR-338-3p was upregulated. In addition, we demonstrated that ADAM17 was a target of miR-338-3p, and that ADAM17 directly activated the wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway and promoted the expression of its target gene MMP2, Nanog and SOX2, which affected the growth, migration and invasion of hypopharyngeal carcinoma cells. In conclusion, our results demonstrate for the first time that miR-338-3p targets ADAM17 and blocks the development of hypopharyngeal carcinoma involving the wnt/ß-catenin signaling pathway, which may be a new target for clinical intervention in human cancer.

Applications of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy in Fatigue, Sleep Deprivation, and Social Cognition.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an optical diffusion technique that allows the non-invasive imaging of cortical activity. During the last two decades, rapid technical and methodological advances have made fNIRS a powerful tool to investigate the cerebral correlates of human performance and cognitive functions, including fatigue, sleep deprivation and social cognition. Despite intrinsic limitations such as restricted brain depth and spatial resolution, its applicability, low cost, ecological validity, and tolerance to movements make fNIRS advantageous for scientific research and clinical applications. It can be viewed as a valid and promising brain imaging approach to investigate applied societal problems (e.g., safety, children development, sport science) and complement other neuroimaging techniques. The intrinsic power of fNIRS measurements for the study of social cognition is magnified when applied to the hyperscanning paradigm (i.e., measuring activity in two or more brains simultaneously). Besides consolidating existing findings, future fNIRS research should focus on methodological advances (e.g., artefacts correction, connectivity approaches) and standardization of analysis pipelines, and expand currently used paradigms in more naturalistic but controlled settings.

Survival analysis of distant metastasis of laryngeal carcinoma: analysis based on SEER database.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the prognostic factors and the value of surgical treatment of patients with newly diagnosed laryngeal cancer with distant metastasis (DM). METHODS: The Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Result database (SEER) was used to analyze 446 patients with laryngeal cancer with DM at the time of initial diagnosis from 2010 to 2014.The survival prognosis of patients with DM was performed by using Kaplan-Meier and log-rank test. The prognostic factors and the effect of surgery were analyzed using the Cox regression analysis and R-language data package. RESULTS: The incidence of DM was 3.21% (446/13865). Lung was the most common distant metastatic site of laryngeal cancer (62.6%), and brain metastases had the worst prognosis in patients at 2 months. T stage and brain metastasis were independent risk factors affecting the survival (P < 0.05). The hazard ratio (HR) of DM in T4 stage was nearly twice than that in T1 stage. Surgical treatment of primary and metastatic tumors can cause better survival for patients. Patients who didn't underwent primary tumor surgery were approximately twice as likely to die from cancer as those who did. The nomogram model was constructed to visually present the 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates of patients. CONCLUSIONS: T stage, brain metastasis and surgical treatment are prognostic factors of patients with M1 stage laryngeal cancer. Surgical treatment of primary tumors and metastases can lead to better survival for patients. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Not applicable.

Interpersonal synchronization of inferior frontal cortices tracks social interactive learning of a song.

Much of human learning emerges as a result of interaction with others. Yet, this interpersonal process has been poorly characterized from a neurophysiological perspective. This study investigated (i) whether Interpersonal Brain Synchronization (IBS) can reliably mark social interactive learning, and specifically (ii) during what kind of interactive behavior. We recorded brain activity from learner-instructor dyads using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) during the acquisition of a music song. We made four fundamental observations. First, during the interactive learning task, brain activity recorded from the bilateral Inferior Frontal Cortex (IFC) synchronized across the learner and the instructor. Second, such IBS was observed in particular when the learner was observing the instructor's vocal behavior and when the learning experience entailed a turn-taking and more active mode of interaction. Third, this specific enhancement of IBS predicted learner's behavioral performance. Fourth, Granger causality analyses further disclosed that the signal recorded from the instructor's brain better predicted that recorded from the learner's brain than vice versa. Together, these results indicate that social interactive learning can be neurophysiologically characterized in terms of IBS. Furthermore, they suggest that the learner's involvement in the learning experience, alongside the instructor's modeling, are key factors driving the alignment of neural processes across learner and instructor. Such alignment impacts upon the real-time acquisition of new information and eventually upon the learning (behavioral) performance. Hence, besides providing a biological characterization of social interactive learning, our results hold relevance for clinical and pedagogical practices.

Cooperation in lovers: An fNIRS-based hyperscanning study.

This study investigated interactive exchange in lovers and the associated interpersonal brain synchronization (IBS) using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based hyperscanning. Three types of female-male dyads, lovers, friends, and strangers, performed a cooperation task during which brain activity was recorded in right frontoparietal regions. We measured better cooperative behavior in lover dyads compared with friend and stranger dyads. Lover dyads demonstrated increased IBS in right superior frontal cortex, which also covaried with their task performance. Granger causality analyses in lover dyads revealed stronger directional synchronization from females to males than from males to females, suggesting different roles for females and males during cooperation. Our study refines the theoretical explanation of romantic interaction between lovers. Hum Brain Mapp 38:831-841, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

ERPs and oscillations during encoding predict retrieval of digit memory in superior mnemonists.

Previous studies have consistently demonstrated that superior mnemonists (SMs) outperform normal individuals in domain-specific memory tasks. However, the neural correlates of memory-related processes remain unclear. In the current EEG study, SMs and control participants performed a digit memory task during which their brain activity was recorded. Chinese SMs used a digit-image mnemonic for encoding digits, in which they associated 2-digit groups with images immediately after the presentation of each even-position digit in sequences. Behaviorally, SMs' memory of digit sequences was better than the controls'. During encoding in the study phase, SMs showed an increased right central P2 (150-250ms post onset) and a larger right posterior high-alpha (10-14Hz, 500-1720ms) oscillation on digits at even-positions compared with digits at odd-positions. Both P2 and high-alpha oscillations in the study phase co-varied with performance in the recall phase, but only in SMs, indicating that neural dynamics during encoding could predict successful retrieval of digit memory in SMs. Our findings suggest that representation of a digit sequence in SMs using mnemonics may recruit both the early-stage attention allocation process and the sustained information preservation process. This study provides evidence for the role of dynamic and efficient neural encoding processes in mnemonists.

Memory skills mediating superior memory in a world-class memorist.

Laboratory studies have investigated how individuals with normal memory spans attained digit spans over 80 digits after hundreds of hours of practice. Experimental analyses of their memory skills suggested that their attained memory spans were constrained by the encoding time, for the time needed will increase if the length of digit sequences to be memorised becomes longer. These constraints seemed to be violated by a world-class memorist, Feng Wang (FW), who won the World Memory Championship by recalling 300 digits presented at 1 digit/s. In several studies we examined FW's memory skills underlying his exceptional performance. First FW reproduced his superior memory span of 200 digits under laboratory condition, and we obtained his retrospective reports describing his encoding/retrieval processes (Experiment 1). Further experiments used self-paced memorisation to identify temporal characteristics of encoding of digits in 4-digit clusters (Experiment 2), and explored memory encoding at presentation speeds much faster than 1 digit/s (Experiment 3). FW's superiority over previous digit span experts is explained by his acquisition of well-known mnemonic techniques and his training that focused on rapid memorisation. His memory performance supports the feasibility of acquiring memory skills for improved working memory based on storage in long-term memory.

How self-disclosure of negative experiences shapes prosociality?

People frequently share their negative experiences and feelings with others. Little is known, however, about the social outcomes of sharing negative experiences and the underlying neural mechanisms. We addressed this dearth of knowledge by leveraging functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) hyperscanning: while dyad participants took turns to share their own (self-disclosure group) or a stranger's (non-disclosure group) negative and neutral experiences, their respective brain activity was recorded simultaneously by fNIRS. We observed that sharing negative (relative to neutral) experiences enhanced greater mutual prosociality, emotional empathy and interpersonal neural synchronization (INS) at the left superior frontal cortex in the self-disclosure group compared to the non-disclosure group. Importantly, mediation analyses further revealed that in the self-disclosure (but not non-disclosure) group, the increased emotional empathy and INS elicited by sharing negative experiences relative to sharing neutral experiences promoted the enhanced prosociality through increasing interpersonal liking. These results indicate that self-disclosure of negative experiences can promote prosocial behaviors via social dynamics (defined as social affective and cognitive factors, including empathy and liking) and shared neural responses. Our findings suggest that when people express negative sentiments, they incline to follow up with positive actions.

The neurocomputational signature of decision-making for unfair offers in females under acute psychological stress.

Stress is a crucial factor affecting social decision-making. However, its impacts on the behavioral and neural processes of females' unfairness decision-making remain unclear. Combining computational modeling and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), this study attempted to illuminate the neurocomputational signature of unfairness decision-making in females. We also considered the effect of trait stress coping styles. Forty-four healthy young females (20.98 ± 2.89 years) were randomly assigned to the stress group (n = 21) and the control group (n = 23). Acute psychosocial stress was induced by the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST), and participants then completed the one-shot ultimatum game (UG) as responders. The results showed that acute psychosocial stress reduced the adaptability to fairness and lead to more random decision-making responses. Moreover, in the stress group, a high level of negative coping style predicted more deterministic decision. fNIRS results showed that stress led to an increase of oxy-hemoglobin (HbO) peak in the right temporoparietal junction (rTPJ), while decreased the activation of left middle temporal gyrus (lMTG) when presented the moderately unfair (MU) offers. This signified more involvement of the mentalization and the inhibition of moral processing. Moreover, individuals with higher negative coping scores showed more deterministic decision behaviors under stress. Taken together, our study emphasizes the role of acute psychosocial stress in affecting females' unfairness decision-making mechanisms in social interactions, and provides evidences for the "tend and befriend" pattern based on a cognitive neuroscience perspec.

A collective neuroscience lens on intergroup conflict.

How do team leaders and followers synchronize their behaviors and brains to effectively manage intergroup conflicts? Zhang and colleagues offered a collective neurobehavioral narrative that delves into the intricacies of intergroup conflict. Their results underscore the importance of leaders' group-oriented actions, along with leader-follower synchronization, in intergroup conflict resolution.

The interpersonal computational psychiatry of social coordination in schizophrenia.

Impairments in social coordination form a core dimension of various psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. Advances in interpersonal and computational psychiatry support a major change in studying social coordination in schizophrenia. Although these developments provided novel perspectives to study how interpersonal activities shape coordination and to examine computational mechanisms, direct attempts to integrate the two methodologies have been sparse. Here, we propose an interpersonal computational framework that (1) leverages the active inference framework to model aberrant social coordination processes in schizophrenia and (2) incorporates dynamical system models to dissect intrapersonal and interpersonal synchronisation to inform a statistical model based on active inference. We discuss how this interpersonal computational psychiatry framework can elucidate the aberrant processes leading to psychopathology, with schizophrenia as an example, and highlight how it might aid clinical intervention and practice. Finally, we discuss challenges and opportunities for using the framework in studying social coordination impairments.

Associations of Empathy with Teacher-Student Interactions: A Potential Ternary Model.

Empathy has garnered increasing recognition as a pivotal component of teacher-student interactions and a notable determinant of student achievement. Nevertheless, the exact impact of empathy on teacher-student interactions remains elusive, despite research endeavors into the neural mechanisms of teacher empathy. Our article examines the cognitive neural processes of teacher empathy during various forms of teacher-student interactions. To this end, we first present a concise review of theoretical considerations related to empathy and interactions, followed by an extensive discussion of teacher-student interactions and teacher empathy through both "single-brain" and "dual-brain" perspectives. Drawing on these discussions, we propose a potential model of empathy that integrates the affective contagion, cognitive evaluation, and behavior prediction aspects of teacher-student interactions. Finally, future research directions are discussed.

A Brain-To-Brain Mechanism for Social Transmission of Threat Learning.

Survival and adaptation in environments require swift and efficacious learning about what is dangerous. Across species, much of such threat learning is acquired socially, e.g., through the observation of others' ("demonstrators'") defensive behaviors. However, the specific neural mechanisms responsible for the integration of information shared between demonstrators and observers remain largely unknown. This dearth of knowledge is addressed by performing magnetoencephalography (MEG) neuroimaging in demonstrator-observer dyads. A set of stimuli are first shown to a demonstrator whose defensive responses are filmed and later presented to an observer, while neuronal activity is recorded sequentially from both individuals who never interacted directly. These results show that brain-to-brain coupling (BtBC) in the fronto-limbic circuit (including insula, ventromedial, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) within demonstrator-observer dyads predict subsequent expressions of learning in the observer. Importantly, the predictive power of BtBC magnifies when a threat is imminent to the demonstrator. Furthermore, BtBC depends on how observers perceive their social status relative to the demonstrator, likely driven by shared attention and emotion, as bolstered by dyadic pupillary coupling. Taken together, this study describes a brain-to-brain mechanism for social threat learning, involving BtBC, which reflects social relationships and predicts adaptive, learned behaviors.

Impact of observational and direct learning on fear conditioning generalization in humans.

Humans gain knowledge about threats not only from their own experiences but also from observing others' behavior. A neutral stimulus is associated with a threat stimulus for several times and the neutral stimulus will evoke fear responses, which is known as fear conditioning. When encountering a new event that is similar to one previously associated with a threat, one may feel afraid and produce fear responses. This is called fear generalization. Previous studies have mostly focused on fear conditioning and generalization based on direct learning, but few have explored how observational fear learning affects fear conditioning and generalization. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has focused on the neural correlations of fear conditioning and generalization based on observational learning. In the present study, 58 participants performed a differential conditioning paradigm in which they learned the associations between neutral cues (i.e., geometric figures) and threat stimuli (i.e., electric shock). The learning occurred on their own (i.e., direct learning) and by observing other participant's responses (i.e., observational learning); the study used a within-subjects design. After each learning condition, a fear generalization paradigm was conducted by each participant independently while their behavioral responses (i.e., expectation of a shock) and electroencephalography (EEG) recordings or responses were recorded. The shock expectancy ratings showed that observational learning, compared to direct learning, reduced the differentiation between the conditioned threatening stimuli and safety stimuli and the increased shock expectancy to the generalization stimuli. The EEG indicated that in fear learning, threatening conditioned stimuli in observational and direct learning increased early discrimination (P1) and late motivated attention (late positive potential [LPP]), compared with safety conditioned stimuli. In fear generalization, early discrimination, late motivated attention, and orienting attention (alpha-event-related desynchronization [alpha-ERD]) to generalization stimuli were reduced in the observational learning condition. These findings suggest that compared to direct learning, observational learning reduces differential fear learning and increases the generalization of fear, and this might be associated with reduced discrimination and attentional function related to generalization stimuli.

Mnemonic-trained brain tuning to a regular odd-even pattern subserves digit memory in children.

It is said that our species use mnemonics - that "magic of memorization" - to engrave an enormous amount of information in the brain. Yet, it is unclear how mnemonics affect memory and what the neural underpinnings are. In this electroencephalography study, we examined the hypotheses whether mnemonic training improved processing-efficiency and/or altered encoding-pattern to support memory enhancement. By 22-day training of a digit-image mnemonic (a custom memory technique used by world-class mnemonists), a group of children showed increased short-term memory after training, but with limited gain generalization. This training resulted in regular odd-even neural patterns (i.e., enhanced P200 and theta power during the encoding of digits at even- versus odd- positions in a sequence). Critically, the P200 and theta power effects predicted the training-induced memory improvement. These findings provide evidence of how mnemonics alter encoding pattern, as reflected in functional brain organization, to support memory enhancement.