Project description
Advancing understanding of socially synchronised brains
To communicate efficiently, people exchange meanings using language. Also, a sort of alignment is used to generate and capture common symbols of ideas to establish understanding. Research also shows that such positive engagement in semantic communication is related to interbrain coupling. But what is the role of this inter-subject phenomenon? To find the answer, the EU-funded B2B-sync project will study the relations between semantics and interbrain synchronisation and the synchronisation patterns of disrupted and successful verbal communication in paired participants. To analyse brainwave activity in semantic-specific brain regions, transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial alternating current stimulation will be employed. The project will result in vital new data concerning the basis of human communication and mutual understanding.
Objective
A successful verbal communication demands mutual attentiveness and intelligibility of speech. Nevertheless, to transmit certain meaning, alignment between interlocutors according to their concepts and representations is also necessary. Recently, it has been shown (by the applicant and others) that a successful linguistic interaction is related to interbrain coupling. However, the role played by the inter-brain synchronization of oscillatory activity, for the two persons to understand each other is still not known. We propose a research agenda that aims at discovering the interplay between semantics and brain-to-brain synchronization. We will use coupled participants to analyze the inter-brain synchronization patterns underlying successful and disrupted verbal communication. Specifically, we will study two persons engaged in a seemingly natural linguistic, communicative scenario while simultaneously recording EEG brain activity. Using two different types of transcranial electric stimulation, we will study the contributions of a shared meaning to the inter-brain synchronization. In the proposed research, we will use TMS to disrupt semantic-specific brain regions to determine how experimentally-impaired communication modulates interbrain synchronization. Also, we will use tACS to manipulate neural coupling between participants trying to modulate mutual comprehension. Our study will thus provide important and novel evidence for the underlying interbrain patterns during effective communication and concerning whether interbrain phase coupling and mutual understanding are jointly modulated (linked). Results here would be opening the door to the quantification of linguistic interactions. In turn, they might suggest new methods for enhancing verbal communication in populations with meaning transmission deficits. Also has the potential to enable the implementation of methods and devices with the intended purpose of measurement and intervention over the interbrain coupling.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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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)
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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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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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) H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
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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.
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom
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.