Hinrichs, Nicolás and Senatore, Irene and Figueiredo, Nara and Cuffari, Elena and Fábregas-Tejeda, Alejandro
(2025)
Mapping Epistemic Priors of Hyperscanning Psychotherapy: The Asymmetry and Reciprocity Blindspots.
[Preprint]
Abstract
Hyperscanning has been increasingly used to quantify the quality of social relationships by tracking the neural correlates of interpersonal interactions. Specifically, this paper critically examines the use of hyperscanning to track the neural correlates of psychotherapeutic change, e.g., the patient-therapist relationship. First, we motivate our project by diagnosing a lack of complex models at the mesoscale in this domain and, consequently, a polarization of the analysis at the micro and macroscales. Looking for the causes of this issue, we highlight the epistemic blindspots of current methodologies that prioritize neural synchrony as a marker of therapeutic success. Drawing on empirical studies and theoretical frameworks, we identify an asymmetry between the neural and behavioral conceptual toolkits, with the latter remaining underdeveloped. We argue that this imbalance stems from two key issues: the underdetermined qualitative interpretation of brain data and the neglect of strong reciprocity in neuroscientific second-person paradigms. Given our critical analysis, we suggest that further research could address the complexity of reciprocal, dynamic interactions in therapeutic contexts. Specifically, drawing on enactivism, we highlight that the autonomy of interactions is one of the factors that undermines the synchrony paradigm. This approach emphasizes the co-construction of meaning and shared experiences through embodied, reciprocal interactions, offering a more integrative understanding of therapeutic change that moves beyond static neural measures to account for the emergent and dynamic nature of social cognition.
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Mapping Epistemic Priors of Hyperscanning Psychotherapy: The Asymmetry and Reciprocity Blindspots. (deposited 29 Apr 2025 11:59)
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