Towards an informational account of interpersonal coordination

Human sociality is grounded in the dynamic coordination of individuals as they interact with one another. Indeed, interpersonal coordination on various levels—neural, behavioural, physiological, affective, linguistic—are hallmarks of successful social communication and cooperation. However, describing these complex, interdependent dynamics has been limited by current methodological approaches, owing to a restrictive repertoire of tools and the absence of a unified, standardised methodological framework. Here, we identify information theory, the mathematical theory of communication, as a particularly well-suited conceptual framework to address this shortfall, given its appropriate sensitivity to complex dynamics, including potential nonlinearity and higher-order interactions, and its data-driven, model-agnostic foundations. With deep roots in computational, cognitive, and systems neuroscience, the formal introduction of information-theoretic quantities and methods into the study of interpersonal coordination is perhaps overdue. This Perspective advances the case for a unified information-theoretic framework for the field while paving the path for a new generation of empirically testable, theoretically grounded research questions.