Collaborative drawing offers new insights into how strangers become friends
A study from ETH Zurich involving 61 pairs of participants found that collaborative drawing does not necessarily lead to increased similarity in brain activity between partners. The research explored how intergenerational pairs build relationships through creative joint activities.
Why it matters
The findings challenge common assumptions about neural synchronization in social bonding and provide insights into cognitive neuroscience and social interaction.
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Add as preferred source Three examples of collaborative drawings (three self-portraits among the many wide-ranging motifs). Participants could draw anything they chose—the motifs of drawings were never specified by the researchers, to allow maximal creativity. The researchers chose drawing as the collaborative activity because it is also frequently used in practice in intergenerational social programs. Credit: Social Brain Sciences Lab The closer two people grow, the more alike their brains work—or so the assumption goes. Two ETH Zurich studies challenge this idea by examining the brain activity of younger and older adults who drew together over several weeks. Despite growing closer, the similarity of their brain activity did not simply increase.
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