Good Conversations Don’t Require Everybody to Agree, Neuroscience Shows

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All of this work hints that our interactions might be more harmonious if we were more in sync with one another. But evidence from a new technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) hyperscanning, which can track brain activity during real conversations, complicates that idea. This method is exciting because it allows researchers to observe two brains in action at the same time. With hyperscanning, we can see how people’s brains respond to one another during real-time conversation. My collaborators and I have been using it to understand the dynamics of good conversations—exchanges where people enjoy themselves, reach consensus on how to solve hard problems or help each other navigate emotional challenges. We’ve discovered that even if one’s goal is to simply enjoy the conversation, sticking to safe topics where everyone is on the same page might not be the best solution. In a hyperscanning study, our team, including psychologists Lily Tsoi of Caldwell University, Shannon Burns of Pomona College, Sebastian Speer and Diana Tamir, both at Princeton University, gave friends and strangers instructions to get to know each other better. We found that the conversations participants enjoyed the most were not those where their brain activity stayed perfectly in sync the whole time.

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