SynSig | An individual-specific understanding of how synchrony becomes curative

Summary
Human beings constantly go in and out interpersonal interactions in their daily lives; these interactions are assumed to have critical effects on mental health. But how such interactions affect mental health is poorly understood. SynSig suggests that interpersonal synchrony is an individual-specific mechanism underlying curative relationships. It seeks to go beyond the one-size-fits-all “the higher the synchrony the better” theoretical assumption underlying the state of the art research. It is the first to propose that individuals have their own individual-specific trait-like synchrony signature as manifests across interacting partners. It further proposes that to make interactions curative, it is necessary to induce an individual-tailored correction to such a signature. That is, the amount and direction of the changes in synchrony must be guided by the individual’s synchrony signature. To develop an individual-specific understanding of synchrony, SynSig focuses on curative interactions encapsulated in time and space: the therapeutic relationship between the client and therapist. It will investigate the existence of individual-specific synchrony signature and how individual-tailored correction of the signature serves as the mechanism transforming relationships into curative ones. It will implement multimodal markers (motion, acoustic, physiological, facial expression) for disentangling the trait-like synchrony signature and state-like deviations from it, of individuals participating in multiple dyadic interactions with humans and virtual humans. The first multimodal feedback system on momentary deviations from the signature will be developed and used to facilitate individual-tailored changes in synchrony and draw causal inferences between such changes and mental health outcomes. The findings will provide new insights into the multi-layered individual-specific nature of synchrony, and bring us closer to understanding how human connections affect our mental health.
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101123661
Start date: 01-07-2024
End date: 30-06-2029
Total budget - Public funding: 2 122 524,00 Euro - 2 122 524,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

Human beings constantly go in and out interpersonal interactions in their daily lives; these interactions are assumed to have critical effects on mental health. But how such interactions affect mental health is poorly understood. SynSig suggests that interpersonal synchrony is an individual-specific mechanism underlying curative relationships. It seeks to go beyond the one-size-fits-all “the higher the synchrony the better” theoretical assumption underlying the state of the art research. It is the first to propose that individuals have their own individual-specific trait-like synchrony signature as manifests across interacting partners. It further proposes that to make interactions curative, it is necessary to induce an individual-tailored correction to such a signature. That is, the amount and direction of the changes in synchrony must be guided by the individual’s synchrony signature. To develop an individual-specific understanding of synchrony, SynSig focuses on curative interactions encapsulated in time and space: the therapeutic relationship between the client and therapist. It will investigate the existence of individual-specific synchrony signature and how individual-tailored correction of the signature serves as the mechanism transforming relationships into curative ones. It will implement multimodal markers (motion, acoustic, physiological, facial expression) for disentangling the trait-like synchrony signature and state-like deviations from it, of individuals participating in multiple dyadic interactions with humans and virtual humans. The first multimodal feedback system on momentary deviations from the signature will be developed and used to facilitate individual-tailored changes in synchrony and draw causal inferences between such changes and mental health outcomes. The findings will provide new insights into the multi-layered individual-specific nature of synchrony, and bring us closer to understanding how human connections affect our mental health.

Status

SIGNED

Call topic

ERC-2023-COG

Update Date

22-11-2024
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Horizon Europe
HORIZON.1 Excellent Science
HORIZON.1.1 European Research Council (ERC)
HORIZON.1.1.0 Cross-cutting call topics
ERC-2023-COG ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS
HORIZON.1.1.1 Frontier science
ERC-2023-COG ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS