Investigating the Impact of a Dual Musical Brain-Computer Interface on Interpersonal Synchrony: A Pilot Study

TL;DR

This pilot study explores how a dual musical brain-computer interface can enhance interpersonal synchrony by providing real-time neuroadaptive feedback, showing promising results in increasing EEG synchrony and participant perception.

Contribution

It introduces a novel neuroadaptive musical feedback system that dynamically reflects inter-brain synchrony, advancing BCI applications in social and musical contexts.

Findings

Neuroadaptive feedback increased EEG phase-locking values.

Participants perceived the neuroadaptive music as enhancing connection.

The system successfully validated real-time synchrony measurement.

Abstract

This study looked into how effective a Musical Brain-Computer Interface (MBCI) can be in providing feedback about synchrony between two people. Using a double EEG setup, we compared two types of musical feedback; one that adapted in real-time based on the inter-brain synchrony between participants (Neuroadaptive condition), and another music that was randomly generated (Random condition). We evaluated how these two conditions were perceived by 8 dyads (n = 16) and whether the generated music could influence the perceived connection and EEG synchrony between them. The findings indicated that Neuroadaptive musical feedback could potentially boost synchrony levels between people compared to Random feedback, as seen by a significant increase in EEG phase-locking values. Additionally, the real-time measurement of synchrony was successfully validated and musical neurofeedback was generally well-received by the participants. However, more research is needed for conclusive results due to the small sample size. This study is a stepping stone towards creating music that can audibly reflect the level of synchrony between individuals.