Have you ever felt that you connect deeply with someone? That you can sense their happiness or suffering? Well, these sensations arise from the ability of our brains to synchronize. Today we explain what this phenomenon consists of and how meditation helps us connect with others.
1. Tuned minds precursors of empathy
Science could not remain passive in the face of a phenomenon as common as it is mysterious. Why do we sometimes manage to understand others and at other times not? How can people who dance, sing, or play an instrument together manifest such a degree of harmony? Neuroscience has always sought to understand the functioning of the human mind and these questions required a new form of research that would allow us to know what happens with two or more brains in interaction.
The rise of this new science dates back to 2024, when a group of scientists studied the brain activity of two individuals while they were interacting in a game (1). This methodology would be called hyperscanning and, today, it constitutes one of the main ways of understanding how we communicate socially.
Over the past two decades, it has been observed that brain waves (detected using electroencephalography) synchronize with those of other people in various situations: verbal and non-verbal communication, group activities such as meditation, contact between mother and child, between romantic couples and friends (2).
Our ability to “tune in” to others can predict the expression of empathy and understanding between parties.
2. A sangha with a common goal
Sharing goals appears to be crucial to this phenomenon. In one experiment in China, participants were asked to perform a collaborative task in groups of three, with two members being real participants and one being a researcher who was only pretending to participate.
The results showed that real participants expressed greater cooperative behavior. This did not occur between a real participant and one who pretended to participate (3). As the interaction and cooperation progressed and became more established, synchronization also increased.
When we share goals and interests – such as those that bring us together every Saturday in person or on YouTube to listen to Ven. Khenpo Rinchen Gyaltsen, meditation retreats, or discussions that arise in tutorials for courses such as Integral Mind Training (IMT) – it is easy to assume that coherence among sangha members facilitates our growth and understanding.
3. Synchronicity for success
Similar brain activity in affective relationships and between parents and children predicts success in cooperative games, which does not occur between people without a previous personal relationship (4). Some research has also shown that an analogous process allows distinguishing between leaders and followers in a group or community.
In one study, 174 participants were divided into groups to perform a series of problem-solving tasks. Those teammates who identified more with each other cooperated more, and synchrony predicted the teams’ collective performance (5).
These results suggest that the proper functioning of groups, their ability to achieve common goals, and the harmony between their members are strongly influenced by the synchronization of their brains.
4. Learning to connect with others
What if by measuring this brain connection, participants could know how synchronized they are? Because of our social nature, we could try to voluntarily synchronize with the other person.
There are currently studies that have managed to get people to increase the synchronization between their brains (6). Can you imagine what it means to train ourselves to connect more with others? How many problems of lack of empathy, understanding in the family, or violence could we solve?
For example, text messaging has become one of the most common forms of social contact, relegating personal interaction to the background. What effect do these new forms of communication mediated by mobile and computer screens have?
A study examining the influence of brain synchronization between mothers and children during face-to-face and text messaging communication addressed this question (7).
It was discovered that while such messages can generate a certain level of brain synchronization between the two, this is significantly less compared to what arises in live dialogues.
The results indicate that, although technology-mediated conversations are an advantage, they can hardly replace the degree of connection that occurs in direct relationships between people, mainly in the family.
5. The key role of meditation
Meditation allows us to cultivate awareness of our immediate experience, for example, loving-kindness meditation is based on compassion and the wish for beings to have happiness and the causes of happiness.
One study found that mindfulness exercises predict attunement, suggesting that contemplative practices may increase the likelihood of attuning to and understanding others better.
In another study, it was observed that adolescents who received mindfulness instructions showed greater synchrony in the frontal region when viewing different emotional stimuli (9). These authors discussed these findings, concluding that mindfulness has the immediate effect of promoting healthy social relationships, and improving the ability to process the emotions of others.
6. Family and communities in resonance
As we have seen, synchrony between brains is important for a wide range of social activities that promote collaboration, empathy, and positive group performance.
Can you imagine being able to assess how our brains synchronize with those of genuine masters when listening to their teachings or meditating in a group? What if we could train empathy, connection, and understanding in families, work groups, or even among strangers by modifying our biology through brain function?
Meditation is a catalyst for this and these alternatives continue to show the wonderful interaction between Buddhism and science.