Sisterhood predicts similar neural processing of a film
Mareike Bacha-Trams,
Gökce Ertas Yorulmaz,
Enrico Glerean,
Elisa Ryyppö,
Karoliina Tapani,
Eero Virmavirta,
Jenni Saaristo,
Iiro P. Jääskeläinen,
Mikko Sams
Affiliations
Mareike Bacha-Trams
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland; Institute of Research Methods in Psychology – Media-based Knowledge Construction, Computer Science and Applied Cognitive Science, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany; Corresponding author at: Present address: Institute of Research Methods in Psychology – Media-based Knowledge Construction, Computer Science and Applied Cognitive Science, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.
Gökce Ertas Yorulmaz
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Enrico Glerean
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Elisa Ryyppö
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Karoliina Tapani
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Eero Virmavirta
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Jenni Saaristo
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Iiro P. Jääskeläinen
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland; Advanced Magnetic Imaging (AMI) Centre, Aalto NeuroImaging, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland; Corresponding author at: Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland.
Mikko Sams
Brain and Mind Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland; Aalto Studios – MAGICS, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland
Relationships between humans are essential for how we see the world. Using fMRI, we explored the neural basis of homophily, a sociological concept that describes the tendency to bond with similar others. Our comparison of brain activity between sisters, friends and acquaintances while they watched a movie, indicate that sisters’ brain activity is more similar than that of friends and friends’ activity is more similar than that of acquaintances. The increased similarity in brain activity measured as inter-subject correlation (ISC) was found both in higher-order brain areas including the default-mode network (DMN) and sensory areas. Increased ISC could not be explained by genetic relation between sisters neither by similarities in eye-movements, emotional experiences, and physiological activity. Our findings shed light on the neural basis of homophily by revealing that similarity in brain activity in the DMN and sensory areas is the stronger the closer is the relationship between the people.
