This repository contains all scripts created in R to analyze the data conducted for the study "The effect of working memory load on interbrain synchrony & tacit coordination". Find the full file here: https://fse.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/25859
Theory of mind (ToM) is proposed to allow agents to theorize about others' internal states (e.g., beliefs and intentions). In this way, it facilitates dynamic behavioral adjustment and enables tacit coordination for achieving mutual goals. Working memory (WM) is considered a fundamental part of ToM, as it maintains and actively manipulates social information. However, to what extent WM affects multi-person social coordination on a behavioral, cognitive and neural level is still unknown. To explore this, we employed EEG hyperscanning to simultaneously measure two participants playing a pure coordination game while performing an N-back task. We evaluated differential effects of low and high cognitive load on behavioral coordination and electrophysiologically. We examined WM effects both on single participants by measuring event-related potentials (ERPs) and dyads by estimating a-band interbrain synchronization (IBS), which is said to indicate the formation of shared representations and information transferring between individuals. Linear mixed model analysis revealed that coordinating performance deteriorates under high WM load as compared to low load, an effect that corresponded to significantly less IBS in the right prefrontal and frontal regions. Both regions have been suggested to play a primary role in cognitive control. Additionally, ERP analysis highlighted a P3 component in parietal areas that is often correlated with WM updating. P3 amplitude was significantly decreased under high versus low cognitive load. This result is in line with the idea that WM resources were depleted by the non-social n-back task in the high load condition and thus the effective processing of interpersonal information was impeded. Taken together, our results demonstrate that WM is crucial for processing social information and can hamper a-band IBS in brain areas involved in the cognitive control of social processing.