Enhancing connectedness through interbrain synchrony neurofeedback training

Over het initiatief / About the initiative

In welke fase zit jouw initiatief? / In what stage is your initiative?

Startupfase

Heb je jouw initiatief al gevalideerd? / Did you validate your initiative?

There has been an extensive literature study conducted at UvA and VU in the domain of interbrain synchrony during collaborative decision making. Based on our review, it is possible to predict collaboration based on interbrain synchrony. In our current study which will be finalized in August 2025, we will study cumulative effect of interbrain synchrony in predicting collaborative decision making. Based on the outcome, we can design IBS neurofeedback solutions using the trained models to indicate the participants ‘when’ they their thoughts in decision making might result in collaboration based on interbrain synchrony. Through these solutions the participants in dyads would be able to ‘feel’ interbrain synchrony and improve it through nterbrain plasticity, which improve their connectedness and therefore social resilience.

Meer informatie over jouw initiatief / More info about your initiative

Synaptosearch is a startup company focusing on innovative projects in cognitive science and artificial intelligence. Improving connectedness among people through interbrain synchrony neurofeedback training sessions have been initiated by Behrang Mehrparvar, as a research project at UvA and VU. The final goal of the project is to improve connectedness among people in the teams and eventually the society, in order to achieve higher resilience.

Wat is er anders/nieuw aan jouw idee/oplossing t.o.v. bestaande oplossingen? / What is different/new about your idea/solution compared to existing solutions??

Up to our knowledge, no study has used interbrain synchrony neurofeedback as a tool for improving interbrain plasticity and therefore connectedness and resilience. Current studies have used real world experiments and training but not through neurofeedback. We believe that neurofeedback can provide a better ‘intuitive’ feeling of connectedness compared to semantic and deliberate explanations and conditions defined through similar approaches.

Wat zijn jouw volgende stappen om het verder te ontwikkelen? / What are your next steps to develop the initiative?

Currently we are planning to recruit participants to perform collaborative decision making on Prisoners dilemma game and train our drift diffusion models t predict the timing of collaboration. Then we are planning to design interbrain synchrony neurofeedback experiments and evaluate interbrain plasticity in improvement of performance over the tasks. Finally, we will extend the task to other ore complicated tasks that improve connectedness and therefore resilience. As a product, we plan to propose our interbrain synchrony neurofeedback training sessions to lower level education systems and emergency teams such as firefighters, police officers, etc. as a solution.

Wat heb je nodig om (nog meer) impact te maken met dit initiatief? / What do you need to make (more) impact with this initiative?

We need the help and support of related agencies such as education systems, research institutions and organizations such as police stations, firefighter bases, etc. to implement the project. Furthermore, we need public or private funding to support the project financially.