THE ART AND SCIENCE OF LOOKING UP REPORT

Firing & Wiring Together
Our Neural Duet Between Brains Individually & at Scale
What fires together wires together.
When we look up, directly interact and lock eyes we are connecting physically
with each other’s brains and bodies – synchronising and resonating with each
other electrochemically.
Social interaction thus becomes a shared process of positive feedback, a virtuous cycle whereby increased
levels of oxytocin in turn encourage even greater levels of gaze to the eye region of human faces.
This dynamic in turn further increases the level of trust and empathy between us, and when we have a
positive, trusting relationship this cycle can lead to the chemical high that lovers have when staring into
each other’s eyes.
We can synchronise at scale, with a contagion effect that can be wonderful or
problematic.
Imaging technology now allows us to watch the responses of multiple brains as people interact,
observing the way we impact each other and even building shared neural nets – what Goleman
describes as a “hitherto undreamed of neural duet between brains as people interact”. 28
The interaction between trusted individuals creates a cognitive coupling between brains as people interact,
and this lovely dance has a powerful effect on building even greater levels of trust and empathy,
and allows us to step into a positive attitudinal shift that comes about through both chemical changes
and the courage that being connected creates in us.
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