Project description
Understanding individual-specific synchrony for mental health
Human interactions profoundly affect mental health, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The ERC-funded SynSig project offers a new approach, proposing that interpersonal synchrony – the coordination between people – serves as a personalised mechanism underlying curative relationships. Rather than assuming that more synchrony is always better, SynSig suggests that individuals have unique synchrony signatures requiring individual-specific tailoring for therapeutic interactions to be effective. The project will develop these signatures using multimodal markers such as motion, acoustic signals, physiological responses, and facial expressions. By distinguishing between stable synchrony patterns and situational deviations, SynSig will create the first real-time feedback system for tailored synchrony changes, aimed at improving mental health outcomes. This research will offer new insights into how human connections shape mental health.
Objective
Human beings constantly go in and out interpersonal interactions in their daily lives; these interactions are assumed to have critical effects on mental health. But how such interactions affect mental health is poorly understood. SynSig suggests that interpersonal synchrony is an individual-specific mechanism underlying curative relationships. It seeks to go beyond the one-size-fits-all “the higher the synchrony the better” theoretical assumption underlying the state of the art research. It is the first to propose that individuals have their own individual-specific trait-like synchrony signature as manifests across interacting partners. It further proposes that to make interactions curative, it is necessary to induce an individual-tailored correction to such a signature. That is, the amount and direction of the changes in synchrony must be guided by the individual’s synchrony signature. To develop an individual-specific understanding of synchrony, SynSig focuses on curative interactions encapsulated in time and space: the therapeutic relationship between the client and therapist. It will investigate the existence of individual-specific synchrony signature and how individual-tailored correction of the signature serves as the mechanism transforming relationships into curative ones. It will implement multimodal markers (motion, acoustic, physiological, facial expression) for disentangling the trait-like synchrony signature and state-like deviations from it, of individuals participating in multiple dyadic interactions with humans and virtual humans. The first multimodal feedback system on momentary deviations from the signature will be developed and used to facilitate individual-tailored changes in synchrony and draw causal inferences between such changes and mental health outcomes. The findings will provide new insights into the multi-layered individual-specific nature of synchrony, and bring us closer to understanding how human connections affect our mental health.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
- Psychotherapy research
- patient-therapist relationship
- therapeutic alliance
- working alliance
- mechanisms of change
- psychotherapy process
- personalized treatment
- interpersonal synchrony
- randomized controlled trial
- major depressive disorder
- motion synchrony
- acoustic synchrony
- physiological synchrony
- processes of therapeutic change
- psychotherapy feedback system
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
31905 Haifa
Israel
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.