{"title":"A Two-Way Analysis of Brain Synchrony: Assessing Brain-Event Relationships Using Information Metrics","authors":"Satoshi Morimoto;Yasuyo Minagawa","doi":"10.1109/JSTQE.2025.3582203","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is well-suited for hyperscanning in naturalistic situations, offering significant potential for assessing social brain function in everyday life. Previous studies have reported inter-brain synchrony during social interactions and sought to explore its mechanisms by correlating behavioral events with brain signals. However, commonly used regression analyses, such as Generalized Linear Models (GLM), rely on target events hypothesized as explanatory variables. This reliance introduces a dependency on the researcher’s assumptions, which can compromise replicability in social neuroscience. While such dependency may be less problematic in strictly controlled experimental paradigms focused on specific hypotheses, it poses significant challenges in naturalistic experiments like social interactions, where numerous events and signals may serve as potential explanatory variables. To address this limitation, we introduced a new approach: signed-normalized mutual information for wavelet transform coherence (WTC-sNMI). This method enables a two-way analysis to evaluate relationships between event sequences and brain synchrony. Through simulations and real-data applications, we evaluated the performance of the proposed method. The results showed that WTC-sNMI analysis performed comparably to regression analysis in detecting both inter-brain synchrony and within-brain synchrony (i.e., brain connectivity). Moreover, applying WTC-sNMI to a tapping dataset revealed the expected patterns of synchrony between the lateral sides of the motor area. These findings validate the effectiveness of WTC-sNMI as a robust two-way analytical tool for studying brain-event relationships.","PeriodicalId":13094,"journal":{"name":"IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics","volume":"31 4: Adv. in Neurophoton. for Non-Inv. Brain Mon.","pages":"1-12"},"PeriodicalIF":4.3000,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11046197/","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENGINEERING, ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is well-suited for hyperscanning in naturalistic situations, offering significant potential for assessing social brain function in everyday life. Previous studies have reported inter-brain synchrony during social interactions and sought to explore its mechanisms by correlating behavioral events with brain signals. However, commonly used regression analyses, such as Generalized Linear Models (GLM), rely on target events hypothesized as explanatory variables. This reliance introduces a dependency on the researcher’s assumptions, which can compromise replicability in social neuroscience. While such dependency may be less problematic in strictly controlled experimental paradigms focused on specific hypotheses, it poses significant challenges in naturalistic experiments like social interactions, where numerous events and signals may serve as potential explanatory variables. To address this limitation, we introduced a new approach: signed-normalized mutual information for wavelet transform coherence (WTC-sNMI). This method enables a two-way analysis to evaluate relationships between event sequences and brain synchrony. Through simulations and real-data applications, we evaluated the performance of the proposed method. The results showed that WTC-sNMI analysis performed comparably to regression analysis in detecting both inter-brain synchrony and within-brain synchrony (i.e., brain connectivity). Moreover, applying WTC-sNMI to a tapping dataset revealed the expected patterns of synchrony between the lateral sides of the motor area. These findings validate the effectiveness of WTC-sNMI as a robust two-way analytical tool for studying brain-event relationships.
期刊介绍:
Papers published in the IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics fall within the broad field of science and technology of quantum electronics of a device, subsystem, or system-oriented nature. Each issue is devoted to a specific topic within this broad spectrum. Announcements of the topical areas planned for future issues, along with deadlines for receipt of manuscripts, are published in this Journal and in the IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics. Generally, the scope of manuscripts appropriate to this Journal is the same as that for the IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics. Manuscripts are published that report original theoretical and/or experimental research results that advance the scientific and technological base of quantum electronics devices, systems, or applications. The Journal is dedicated toward publishing research results that advance the state of the art or add to the understanding of the generation, amplification, modulation, detection, waveguiding, or propagation characteristics of coherent electromagnetic radiation having sub-millimeter and shorter wavelengths. In order to be suitable for publication in this Journal, the content of manuscripts concerned with subject-related research must have a potential impact on advancing the technological base of quantum electronic devices, systems, and/or applications. Potential authors of subject-related research have the responsibility of pointing out this potential impact. System-oriented manuscripts must be concerned with systems that perform a function previously unavailable or that outperform previously established systems that did not use quantum electronic components or concepts. Tutorial and review papers are by invitation only.