What are Team Neurodynamics?
Team Neurodynamics is the science of applying the measurement of neurophysiologic indicators to the modeling of teamwork. It is well known that brain activity in individuals can be synchronized by visual or auditory streams where brain rhythms become entrained (synchronized) by the frequency of the stimulus presentation.(1,2)
We have asked the question whether neurocognitive measures such as engagement and workload can become entrained across members of a team by another form of external stimulus, i.e. the evolving task environment. At the core of our work are constructs called Neurophysiologic Synchronies (NS); which, are defined as the quantitative second-by-second co-expression of the same cognitive measure by different members of the team. Another way of thinking about them is that they are team Neurodynamics variables that converge and diverge following stimulation from the environment.
Our study of team Neurodynamics began in 2008 with the definition and functional description of a measure termed neurophysiologic synchronies (NS). Neurophysiologic synchronies or rhythms are the second-by-second quantitative co-expression of the same neurophysiologic / cognitive measure by different members of a team. The process was first described for three-person teams of high school students engaged in scientific problem solving (3) and was quickly applied to groups engaged in emotion recall map navigation tasks (4) and Submarine Piloting and Navigation (5).
Subsequent refinements have incorporated temporal components, nonlinear dynamical extensions and quantitative metrics. The generation of heterologous multi-team models and linkage of them with team member speech frequencies has allowed comparisons across teams, training sessions and levels of experience (6).
To learn more, view our gallery and publications or click on the following presentation to get started.
-Ron Stevens Ph. D.
Please press here for the instructions and tips for viewing the Neurophysiologic Synchrony movie below.:
We used EEG derived measures of High Engagement and High Workload obtained from Advanced Brain Monitoring's EEG headsets and B-Alert™ software.
1). U. Will and E. Berg (2007). Brain Wave Synchronization and Entrainment to Periodic Acoustic Stimuli. Neuroscience Letters 424, 55-60.
2). U. Lindenberger, Li, S-C, W. Gruber, & V. Muller. (2009). Brains Swinging in Concert: Cortical Phase Synchronization while Playing Guitar. BMC Neuroscience 10: 22-34.
3). Stevens, R. H., Galloway, T., and Berka, C., & Sprang, M. (2009). Neurophysiologic Collaboration Patterns During Team Problem Solving. Proceedings: HFES 53rd Ann. Meeting, Oct. 19-23, 2009, San Antonio, TX.
4). Stevens, R., Galloway, T., Berka, C., & Behneman, A. (2010a). Identification and Application of Neurophysiologic Synchronies for Studying Team Behavior. In Proceedings of the 19th Conference on Behavior Representation in modeling and Simulation, 21-28.
5). Stevens, R.H., Galloway, T., Berka, C., & Behneman, A., (2010b). Temporal Sequences of Neurophysiologic Synchronies Can Identify Changes in Team Cognition. Proceedings: Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 54th Annual Meeting, September 27-October 1, 2010, San Francisco, CA. pages 190-194.
6). Stevens, R. H., Galloway, T., and Berka, C., & Wang, P. (2011). Developing Systems for the Rapid Modeling of Team Neurodynamics Proceedings: HCI International 2011, July 9-14, Orlando, FL
For more information contact us at: Info@TeamNeuroDynamics.com
This movie shows the dynamic changes in team neurophysiological synchronies (NS) for a six person Junior Officer Pilotting and Navigation (SPAN) team. The entropy is color coded for the Briefing (pink), Scenario (green) and Debriefing (blue). The pattern map to the right has the outlines of numbers for each pattern that gives the numbers that correspond to the 25 x 25 matrix to the left. The animation on the far right is of the submarine as the team navigated while encountering contacts and weather conditions.