On science
Illustration Maija Savolainen
Understanding how brains understand each other
Shared understanding is a central theme for many fields of human sciences, yet surprisingly little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying shared experiences, writes Mikko Sams, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience.
S
CIENTISTS at Aalto University have
been developing new methods for studying how the brain processes very complex stimuli such as films or radio drama. The motivation for using this type of stimulation comes from the fact that it presents dynamic events in their natural context, and imitates what we face when navigating the real world. Among other things, our results show that if people experience similar emotions, this is based on the similarity of their brain activity patterns. Our research is starting to uncover complex mechanisms that underlie shared understanding. Interpersonal similarity is an important determinant of human
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social behaviour. People are more likely to feel affinity for as well as interact and maintain contact with and marry others who are similar to them. Similarity can be based on demographic (race, ethnicity, age, religious upbringing, educational level, occupation and gender), anthropometric (height, body build) and personality factors. To a certain extent, individuals with comparable life histories interpret reality in a similar way; they partly share their understanding of their environment. This facilitates mutual understanding, living peacefully and working together in a society. Conversely, the inability to share understanding because of, for example, cultural differences challenges mutual
understanding, which has caused a multitude of devastating global and local conflicts. Shared understanding is a central research theme in philosophy, sociology and psychology, and it is at the core of various psychotherapy approaches as well as in understanding infant behaviour. In spite of this, surprisingly little is known about the neural mechanisms that underlie shared experiences. One of our “big� goals is to study the mechanisms, which underlie successful and also unsuccessful human communication.
Help from movies
Our previous studies have shown strong evidence that measuring the similarity