Interbrain Synchrony During Mentor-Mentee Verbal Interaction. Preliminary Results of EEG-Hyperscanning Study

Interactions between instructors and learners are actively studied in educational settings using a range of techniques, focusing on interpersonal attunement and synchrony. However, mentoring as a form of educational interaction is less studied. The current exploratory study focuses on interbrain synchrony (IBS) between mentors and mentees during verbal interaction in a naturalistic workplace environment. Fifteen pairs of mentors and their mentees completed simultaneous EEG recordings in four social conditions: resting state and social baseline before interaction, work case discussion, free communication, and resting state and social baseline after an interaction. The preliminary results showed higher IBS in the free communication condition compared to the work case discussion condition. In the resting state condition, a higher IBS was found at the beginning of the experiment compared to the end, whereas opposite results were obtained for IBS in the social baseline condition. The results only partially support previous findings in the literature where higher IBS levels were observed in more interactional conditions and at the end of interaction compared to the beginning.