# Speaker-listener coupling: a novel neural approach for assessing communication

> **NIH NIH DP1** · PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $1,111,320

## Abstract

Communication is a dynamic process by which information is transferred across people. For the sake of
experimental control, however, most cognitive neuroscience work on communication focus on either language
production in the speaker's brain or comprehension in the listener's brain during highly artificial tasks.
Communication, which by nature is a joint action embedded in a social context, is paradoxically studied in
single individuals in isolation. In this proposal, we advance a new and versatile framework for understanding
the neural mechanisms underlying communication in the real world. This framework argues that effective
communication emerges when the neural activity of the two interlocutors are “coupled” together. This coupling
can take the form of (1) mirroring, when the listener's neural patterns match those of the speaker; (2)
conditional transformations, when the listener's patterns reflect a lawful relation to the speaker's neural
patterns; or (3) synergies, when the activities of the two brains dynamically influence and constrain each other
to optimize information sharing.
To test our theoretical framework, we propose developing both stationary and portable dual-brain imaging
systems for measuring the neural activity of multiple individuals engaged in dialogue in the laboratory and in
clinical settings. Two of the systems, fMRI hyperscanning and ECoG hyperscanning, take advantage of the
high spatial and high temporal resolution of the respective methods to precisely characterize coupled neural
dynamics during dialogue. For the third system, we propose developing a portable, dual-brain fNIRS system to
characterize how two brains interact in real-life settings. Field work measuring the level of brain-to-brain
coupling between a caregiver and a child could be used to study the acquisition of a first language; as an early
preverbal biomarker for developmental disorder (e.g. lack of caregiver-child coupling as an early biomarker for
autism); and as a temporally refined diagnostic tool for evaluating the effectiveness of behavioral and
pharmacological interventions aimed at alleviating communication deficits (e.g. in autism, schizophrenia).
Although the proposed research is technologically challenging, this laboratory has a track record of developing
innovative analysis tools and theoretical frameworks for the study of cognitive functions in real-life contexts.
The PI has substantial experience working with ECoG, fMRI and fNIRS, as well as studying both neurotypical
and clinical populations. Our proposal is strongly grounded in prior work studying the extent of shared neural
responses across subjects during the processing of real-life information. Thus, although ambitious, the
research plan is both feasible and grounded, and has the potential to transform the way we understand and
assess the neural processes by which we interact with others in everyday contexts. Ultimately, we believe that
this work will lead to a novel brain-to-brain coup...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10246778
- **Project number:** 5DP1HD091948-05
- **Recipient organization:** PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Uri Hasson
- **Activity code:** DP1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,111,320
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-09-30 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10246778

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10246778, Speaker-listener coupling: a novel neural approach for assessing communication (5DP1HD091948-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10246778. Licensed CC0.

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