DISTRACT Seminar with Ivana Konvalinka

On Friday May 6, associate professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science Cognitive Systems at DTU, Ivana Konvalinka, gave a talk at the 3rd DISTRACT Seminar of the semester. 

Title:
Interpersonal synchronization as a framework for measuring self-other integration

Abstract:
Synchronization is a ubiquitous phenomenon, which both emergences spontaneously and can be modulated intentionally between people’s movements and bodily signals. However, the functional significance of interpersonal synchronization (IPS) is still largely debated, and has mostly been linked to mechanisms of social coordination and social bonding. In this talk, I propose that IPS can also be used as a method for quantifying mechanisms of self-other integration in social interaction. I will present experimental studies that tap into different degrees and requirements of IPS, on a behavioural, physiological, and neural level – showing how mechanisms of prediction and adaptation can pull us into a state of self-other merging.

Bio: 
Ivana Konvalinka is an associate professor at the Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science Cognitive Systems at DTU. Her research investigates intra- and inter-personal mechanisms underlying mutual social interaction at a behavioural, neural, and physiological level. She works on developing joint action paradigms and multivariate methods for quantifying two-person processes. In particular, she is interested in i) how people coordinate their actions in real time, ii) what neurophysiological mechanisms underlie mutual interaction, particularly how simultaneous brain recordings (i.e. dual EEG) can help better understand the neural basis of social interaction, and iii) the mechanism by which people's physiological (i.e. cardiac) signals couple together during action coordination and action observation.