Enhanced Interpersonal Movement Coordination in the Military: A Hyperscanning Study

Most organizations make significant investments in developing their members’ interpersonal coordination skills. For example, military personnel undergo extensive training to perform coordinated actions in challenging environments. To investigate how such training could influence the cognitive underpinnings of interpersonal coordination, this study compares the behavioral and neural correlates of coordinated actions between military cadets and civilian students. Pairs of military or civilian participants performed a challenging coordination task that involved synchronous and asynchronous movements. Military cadets performed the task with fewer errors than civilian students. Analysis of EEG data recorded during the task hints at the importance of cognitive control (indexed by mid-frontal theta activity) and self-other integration (indexed by right parietal alpha activity) for successful coordination. These mechanisms distinguish leaders from followers during coordination and are most clearly observed in militaryparticipants. This study provides insights and methods that could be used to assess and improve interpersonal coordination capabilities.