Grace Miao

Thanks for having me! Excited to discuss with everyone at IMC :)

Grateful to my brilliant collaborators for diving deep into the science of human connection. Let us know what you think!
#InterpersonalCommunication #SocialNeuroscience #NeuralSynchrony #fNIRS #Hyperscanning #NeuroTech #HumanConnection #CommunicationResearch #Loneliness
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Making new connections: An fNIRS machine learning classification study of neural synchrony in the default mode network Successfully making connections with others is crucial to navigating the social world and general well-being, yet little is known about connection formation and its neurocognitive underpinnings. Incre...

📄 Read the full preprint on bioRxiv: biorxiv.org/content/10.1... [7/8]

These findings matter in light of the loneliness epidemic and growing social fragmentation.
Understanding how connection emerges — biologically and experientially — can help us build interventions and environments that foster it.
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Key Insight #3:
Using DMN synchrony and perceived depth, we classified high vs. low connection dyads with 64.5% accuracy across 1,000 iterations.
Right TPJ carried most of this effect — it alone classified connection strength at 62.6% accuracy.
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Key Insight #2:
Neural synchrony in the default mode network (DMN) is a powerful biological signal of connection — a marker of "seeing eye-to-eye."
Synchrony in DMN subregions — especially mPFC and right TPJ — significantly predicted self-reported connection.
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Key Insight #1: People in the deep conversation condition reported feeling more connected than those in the shallow condition.
But depth isn’t only in the prompt — felt depth is a stronger predictor than assigned depth. Shallow prompts can spark deep bonds, and vice versa. [3/8]

We used fNIRS hyperscanning and logistic regression-based machine learning to study 70 dyads of strangers getting to know each other. Participants were randomly assigned to discuss either shallow topics (e.g., the weather) or deep ones (e.g., the last time they cried in front of someone). [2/8]

How do we make new connections? Ashley Binnquist, Agnieszka Pluta, Bear Goldstein, Rick Dale, @socialbrain.bsky.social and I just posted a new preprint on the neurocognitive processes that support meaningful social connection. 🧠🧠💬💬 [1/8] 🧵

Excited to share the DIMS Dashboard—a tool for displaying multimodal, extracted time series alongside the original video source! It’s designed to support and inspire a richer qualitative–quantitative research cycle.

Huge thanks to my amazing collaborators and mentors who made this possible! 🙌

Fascinating!!! These initial results are already intriguing. Looking forward to the future developments 👏👏

Had such a great time sharing my work at #SANS2025 today! Huge thanks to everyone who stopped by, asked questions, or just listened in. Big shoutout to my awesome collaborator @zaqdelinguist.bsky.social 🙌

Thanks for the shoutout, Zachary! Excited to share our work at #SANS2025 during Poster Session 1 (P1-C-27) — come find me tomorrow from 3:30 to 5pm! 😆