Embodied perspective-taking enhances interpersonal synchronization. A body-swap study.

SUMMARY of the study:
"Humans exhibit a strong tendency to synchronize movements with each other, with visual
perspective potentially playing a role in this interpersonal coordination. By manipulating the
visual scenes in virtual reality (VR) for 20 pairs of participants (N = 40) engaged in a joint fingertapping
task, we examined the effects of different visual perspectives (1st and 2nd person)
on their coordination dynamics. We hypothesized that perceiving the partner's movements
from their 1st person perspective would enhance interpersonal synchronization, potentially
mediated by the embodiment of the partner's hand. While dyadic entrainment was prevalent
in all coupled conditions, we observed significant differences in attractor dynamics across
perspective levels. Specifically, participants in 1st person coupling could not maintain decoupled
trajectories as effectively as those in 2nd person coupling. Our findings suggest that
visual perspective influences coordination dynamics in dyadic interactions, engaging errorcorrection
mechanisms in individual brains as they integrate the partner's hand in their body
representation. Complementary analysis of questionnaires regarding the subjective
experience of embodiment further supports our interpretation. Our results have the potential
to inform the development of applications for motor training and rehabilitation, to enhance
interpersonal coordination between patients and therapists."

The 'Data' folder contains datasets at different stages of processing. In order:
- onsets relative to metronomes and finger-taps (.mat files)
- recurrence score timeseries (.mat files)
- table of dyadic (JRQA) and individual (sense of ownership and agency, empathy, synchronization consistency) measures, ready for statistical analyses.