When people of different generations create art together, their brains show initially show more synchrony, and the synchrony can predict feelings of loneliness or social connection, according to a study published August 20 th in the open access journal PLOS Biology by Ryssa Moffat from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, and colleagues.
Loneliness—a perceived feeling of social isolation—is a growing health risk. Policy makers and health practitioners are working on methods to create meaningful social interactions to bring people together, especially between generations. But while intergenerational interactions can increase wellbeing in older adults, the physiological changes resulting from them are unknown.
To better understand changes in the brain that might come as intergenerational relationships are formed, the authors of this pre-registered study collected data from 31 intergenerational pairs, recruiting adults over 70 and pairing them with adults between 18 and 35, and comparing them with 30 same generation pairs of younger adults. The pairs were tracked over six sessions in a creative drawing program, where participants drew on their own or together without talking. At each session the researchers measured participants’ loneliness and attitudes toward the other person in their pair and how socially close they felt to their partner. They also recorded the participants’ brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and then calculated the synchrony in brain activity between people.
The authors found that brain synchrony between pairs was higher when the pairs were drawing together instead of alone. Synchrony between pairs in the right inferior frontal cortex and right temporoparietal junction while intergenerational pairs drew alone was predictive of loneliness. However, synchrony between pairs in the right inferior frontal cortex while intergenerational pairs drew together and same generation pairs drew alone predicted social closeness. While brain synchrony increased over the sessions between same-generation pairs, it decreased between intergenerational pairs. Although the study was limited to only six drawing sessions, and the scientists were unable to include same generation pairs of older adults, the authors suggest that brain synchrony is dynamic and changing as social connections are forged for people of all ages.
Ryssa Moffat states, “My motivation to study social interactions between seniors and young adults grew from positive experiences getting to know seniors around the world. The idea for this project really gained momentum when I read statistics about the growing proportion of older adults globally and learned about the risks of loneliness and social isolation. It was clear that understanding how brains adapt to each other as people form intergenerational relationships would be valuable for promoting social connection.
“Six months after the end of the study, we invited the participants to an event where we displayed their artworks and shared preliminary results. Watching the pairs of participants find each other and peruse the artworks looking for their own was heartwarming. For me, it really reinforced the value of researching how social connections form.”
Author Guillaume Dumas adds, “Hyperscanning has often been used to capture brief moments of interaction. Here, we show that it can also track the dynamics of relationship formation over time, bringing the field closer to the complexity of real social life.”
“Interpersonal neural synchrony is not a simple ‘more is better’ signal. Our findings support this emerging subtler view where inter-brain coupling is dynamic and context-sensitive.”
Author Emily S. Cross notes, “This was an incredibly ambitious and high-risk project since its inception- and it is awesome to see how brilliantly Ryssa led this work from start to finish. In my eyes, this study is a shining example of a basic science question being studied in such a way that the societal impact is obvious and immediate. The fact that Ryssa also orchestrated such a wonderful feedback and results-sharing event with the participants was the cherry on top. It's just so wonderful to see this work being recognised and celebrated—all kudos go to Ryssa!”
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available paper in PLOS Biology : https://plos.io/4aQcW5S
Citation: Moffat R, Dumas G, Cross ES (2026) Social interactions between people of same and different generations shape longitudinal changes in interpersonal neural synchrony, loneliness, and social connection. PLoS Biol 24(8): e3003899. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003899
Author countries : Switzerland, Canada
Funding: see manuscript
PLOS Biology
Experimental study
People
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.