Trust Emerges From Shared Attention: Behavioural and Neural Evidence From Dual EEG Hyperscanning.

Overview

Authors: Yuzhan Hang¹, Wei Wu¹, Runjin Li¹, Liangjiecheng Huang¹, Satoshi Shioiri², Xiaosong He¹

ORCID iDs: Yuzhan Hang, Satoshi Shioiri

Department of Psychology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China
Advanced Institute of So‐Go‐Chi Informatics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

Institutions: University of Science and Technology of China (China); Tohoku University (Japan)

Journal: Human brain mapping, volume 47, issue 4, article e70504

Dates: received 23 September 2025; accepted 3 March 2026; published online 11 March 2026; in print March 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY-NC

Identifiers: DOI 10.1002/hbm.70504 · PMID 41814624 · PMCID PMC13093651 · OpenAlex W7135021264

Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)

Status: data only

Categories: EEG (modality), human (organism), cognitive (subfield)

Methods: Spectral & time-frequency, Statistics, Machine learning, Smoothing, state filtering, decompositions, Connectivity, Preprocessing, fMRI & imaging

Keywords: dual EEG hyperscanning, functional connectivity, inter‐brain synchronisation, shared attention, trust

MeSH: Attention*, Brain Waves*, Cooperative Behavior*, Electroencephalography*, Trust*, Adult, Female, Humans, Male, Young Adult (* major topic)

Topic: Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies (Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuroscience), according to OpenAlex

Funding: New Humanity USTC (FSSF-A-230101); Research Start-up Fund of USTC

Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 94 references in the paper

Abstract

Trust is central to human cooperation, yet the cognitive and neural mechanisms through which it emerges remain poorly understood. Here, we tested whether shared attention fosters trust behaviour and its neural underpinnings. Pairs of participants engaged in a joint flanker task to manipulate attentional alignment, followed by a multi‐round trust game, whereas neural activity was recorded using dual EEG hyperscanning. Behaviourally, participants in the shared attention condition invested more and responded faster than those in the separated condition, with effects evident from the first round and persisting across repetitions. Neurally, shared attention was associated with increased prefrontal oscillatory power in the theta, alpha, and beta bands, stronger beta‐band functional connectivity between prefrontal and posterior regions, and enhanced inter‐brain theta synchronisation in right frontal areas. Together, these findings demonstrate that shared attention promotes trust through a multi‐level mechanism spanning local oscillatory activity, intra‐brain connectivity, and cross‐brain coupling, establishing shared attention as a minimal yet robust pathway for trust formation beyond deliberative or experience‐based accounts.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY-NC), from the paper cited above.

Code

The paper links to its data, not to its authors' code: see the Data section.

The paper's code and data availability statement is in the Data section.

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Data

Datasets cited

osf:ds29q, at OSF; found in “Data Availability Statement”

Data Availability Statement

The code and datasets are on the project's page in Open Science Framework (OSF) at https://osf.io/ds29q/?view_only=cbba8c2445b14b838dd1f8738bc3ff10.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY-NC), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 1, 30 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 6 authors, 5 keywords, 10 MeSH terms, 2 funders, 77 references.

Cite

This paper

Hang, Y., Wu, W., Li, R., Huang, L., Shioiri, S., & He, X. (2026). Trust Emerges From Shared Attention: Behavioural and Neural Evidence From Dual EEG Hyperscanning. Human brain mapping, 47(4), e70504. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.70504

BibTeX

@article{hang2026trust, author = {Hang, Yuzhan and Wu, Wei and Li, Runjin and Huang, Liangjiecheng and Shioiri, Satoshi and He, Xiaosong}, title = {{Trust Emerges From Shared Attention: Behavioural and Neural Evidence From Dual EEG Hyperscanning}}, journal = {Human brain mapping}, year = {2026}, month = mar, volume = {47}, number = {4}, pages = {e70504}, publisher = {Wiley}, issn = {1065-9471}, doi = {10.1002/hbm.70504}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.70504}, pmid = {41814624}, pmcid = {PMC13093651} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Hang, Yuzhan AU - Wu, Wei AU - Li, Runjin AU - Huang, Liangjiecheng AU - Shioiri, Satoshi AU - He, Xiaosong TI - Trust Emerges From Shared Attention: Behavioural and Neural Evidence From Dual EEG Hyperscanning T2 - Human brain mapping J2 - Hum Brain Mapp PY - 2026 DA - 2026/03/01 VL - 47 IS - 4 SP - e70504 SN - 1065-9471 PB - Wiley DO - 10.1002/hbm.70504 UR - https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.70504 LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

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