You took the words right out of my mouth: Dual-fMRI reveals intra- and inter-personal neural processes supporting verbal interaction.

Verbal communication relies heavily upon mutual understanding, or common ground. Inferring the intentional states of our interaction partners is crucial in achieving this, and social neuroscience has begun elucidating intra- inter-personal neural processes supporting such inferences. Typically, however, neuroscientific paradigms lack reciprocal to-and-fro characteristic communication, offering little insight into way these operate online during real-world interaction. In present study, we overcame this by developing a “hyperscanning” paradigm which pairs interactants could communicate verbally with one another joint-action task whilst both undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging simultaneously. Successful performance on required interlocutors to predict their partner's upcoming utterance order converge same word as each other over recursive exchanges, based only another's prior verbal expressions. By applying various levels analysis behavioural neuroimaging data acquired from 20 dyads, three principal findings emerged: First, converged frequently within semantic space, suggesting that understanding had been established. Second, assessing brain responses interlocutor they planned utterances basis co-player's previous revealed engagement temporo-parietal junctional (TPJ), precuneus dorso-lateral pre-frontal cortex. Moreover, were modulated positively degree convergence achieved round. effective connectivity among regions indicates role right TPJ process, consistent Nexus model. Third, signals certain nodes network became aligned between interacting interlocutors. We suggest reflects an interpersonal process through infer align establish