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Most people know even from a distance whether a couple is flirting or fighting, but brain researchers are studying why some, including those with autism, struggle to read these social cues.
A touch on the arm, a tilt of the head, a comfortable silence can all betray whether a couple in a café are spouses, siblings, colleagues or strangers.
By reading a mixture of subtle signals, such as body language, tone of voice and facial expression, we all make snap judgements about the level of intimacy and balance of power between other people.
‘Social interactions are something that humans are very good at figuring out,’ said Dr Kami Koldewyn, a psychologist at Bangor University in the UK. ‘We pick up on cues very quickly from other people’s faces, bodies and actions.’
But the brain networks responsible for this incredible intuition are still largely a mystery. Exactly when they develop, or even where in the brain they lie is still unknown. Nor is it clear whether all these skills are learned or if some are ready to go from birth.
Understanding this area of brain development may eventually lead to interventions to help people who struggle to read social cues, such as those on the autistic spectrum.
Dr Koldewyn is attempting to answer some of these questions in an EU-funded project called Becoming Social. Using functional MRI brain scans, she is hoping to identify which networks are active when volunteers observe other people interacting.
A group of 100 children aged from nine to 14-years-old will be shown video footage of several pairs of people as they greet and talk to each other. The researchers will then ask the youngsters questions about the relationship between the two individuals. They may be asked whether the people are friends or, if two people approach a narrow doorway, which of them is most likely to give way and let the other person pass. Some of the tests will feature video footage that focuses only on the faces of the people, or the movement of their body, while others will show the whole person as they interact.
‘Specific parts of the brain are very sensitive to facial cues while others are more sensitive to body cues,’ said Dr Koldewyn. ‘But we suspect that reading interactions is not all in the face, or the body, or the specific individual actions. We think some brain regions are specifically sensitive to joint, social interactions.’
Via Miloš Bajčetić
