Linguistics

Active listening

Cognitive psychology

Philosophy

Communication

Neuroscience

Superior temporal gyrus

Conversation

Telecommunications

Developmental psychology

Magnetoencephalography

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

Computer science

Imitation

Computer network

Gesture

Psychology

Brain activity and meditation

Synchronization (alternating current)

Electroencephalography

Interpersonal communication

Channel (broadcasting)

Dual (grammatical number)

Turn-taking

Computer vision

Cerebral Cortex

Verbal interaction and imitation are essential for language learning and development in young children. However, it is unclear how mother–child dyads synchronize oscillatory neural activity at the cortical level in turn-based speech interactions. Our study investigated interbrain synchrony in mother–child pairs during a turn-taking paradigm of verbal imitation. A dual-MEG (magnetoencephalography) setup was used to measure brain activity from interactive mother–child pairs simultaneously. Interpersonal neural synchronization was compared between socially interactive and noninteractive tasks (passive listening to pure tones). Interbrain networks showed increased synchronization during the socially interactive compared to noninteractive conditions in the theta and alpha bands. Enhanced interpersonal brain synchrony was observed in the right angular gyrus, right triangular, and left opercular parts of the inferior frontal gyrus. Moreover, these parietal and frontal regions appear to be the cortical hubs exhibiting a high number of interbrain connections. These cortical areas could serve as a neural marker for the interactive component in verbal social communication. The present study is the first to investigate mother–child interbrain neural synchronization during verbal social interactions using a dual-MEG setup. Our results advance our understanding of turn-taking during verbal interaction between mother–child dyads and suggest a role for social “gating” in language learning.

Dual-MEG interbrain synchronization during turn-taking verbal interactions between mothers and children