Interact is a French National Research Agency funded project (Junior Investigator grant) aiming at investigating the interplay between synchronization skills, human interactions, and brain activity. Human functions such as language or music involve complex rhythmic patterns that are learned by imitating and synchronizing in interaction with other people. Therefore, it is possible that interactive synchronization enhances imitation and rhythmic capacities (e.g., moving to a beat), but this hypothesis remains to be validated by determining whether people synchronize and learn better with someone or on their own. Synchronization skills are associated with linguistic and cognitive skills, especially executive and attentional functions, and are a marker of developmental disorders such as dyslexia. We design new experiments to capture interactive and non-interactive features of synchronization and learning, at the behavioral and the neuronal level. Participants (children aged 8-12 years old) are recruited to examine the effect of social interaction on synchronization and learning functions, further characterized by electrophysiological brain activity. Neurophysiological responses during synchronization likely improve when rhythmic performance improves, for example, in interactive coordination contexts. We use behavioral tasks implemented in virtual reality combined with EEG to investigate synchronization, learning of rhythmic sequences, and their neuronal underpinnings with and without social interaction. By fostering synchronization and rhythmic skills, it is possible to significantly improve the associated cognitive and motor functions. The results obtained in this research may therefore positively impact existing rehabilitative treatments of developmental disorders, such as rhythmic training and auditory rhythmic stimulation.

More coming soon…