This year we are starting a small laboratory to kick start some of our social experiments. We need to add some equipment to the mix. We will be starting off some early work on brain to brain communication and neural synchrony once we have this all set up.

Part 1. Brain to brain communication

We are excited to launch the first research project at the SSO Lab: Neural Sonification. This experiment is a test of inter-subject neural decoding. We are asking a fundamental question: Can one person learn to accurately identify the internal brain states of another through sound?

Phase 1 (Proof of Principle): We are using a robust biological marker called the Alpha-block

The Mechanism: When the sender closes their eyes, their brain produces Alpha waves. We translate these waves into real-time audio for a listener.

The Goal: To measure if the listener can learn to distinguish between the "Eyes Open" and "Eyes Closed" states purely through the auditory signal. For the record, this should be easy to do as alpha is quite reliable. From here we will be exploring if people can learn more complex brain states than eyes open/closed.

Part 2. Neural Synchrony in situ

Once our hardware pipeline is established, we will use dual-headset monitoring to study Neural Synchrony. By recording two people simultaneously during social interaction, we can measure if and when their brainwaves begin to oscillate in tandem. This helps us understand the biological basis of being on the same wavelength (ha ha) during conversation or collaborative tasks.

What Your Support Funds:

Your donations will directly fund the Neurosity Crown EEG headsets ($1,499 each) and the participant stipends ($500) required to run these 20 blinded trials. This is a technical feasibility study to prove that a non-invasive auditory bridge can successfully transfer information between two humans.

Help us build the Social Science Observatory Lab Space

Team Members