Hakim, Uzair;
(2025)
Methodological Innovations in TwoPerson Neuroscience experiments using fNIRS to Investigate Brain Function
during Online Communication.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
![[thumbnail of Hakim_10207232_Thesis.pdf]](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/text.png) |
Text
Hakim_10207232_Thesis.pdf Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 1 May 2026. Download (9MB) |
Abstract
The field of social neuroscience aims to discover associations between brain function and social interactions. In recent years, the use of online tools to communicate has increased massively. However, investigating brain function in the online space using hyperscanning is methodologically difficult and therefore the neural underpinnings for social interaction in this space are under investigated. Additionally, there are inconsistent and unclear methodological approaches in functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) based hyperscanning studies. The implementation and integration of multimodal datasets into suitable analytic methods, consistent pre-processing pipelines and methods of localizing optodes between participants are three of the main areas of concern. This thesis presents the development of a framework to synchronously acquire data from remote locations, a comparison between pre-processing steps on the computation of the inter-brain coupling metric and how different methods to localize optode locations impact the inter-brain coupling. These developments are applied to two neuroscience studies examining face processing and verbal communication using online communication tools. Four fNIRS signals were tested against four pre-processing pipelines. It is demonstrated that the use of the HbDiff signal in conjunction with bandpass filtering and systemic artefact correction provides the best ability to evaluate IBC between participants doing the same task. I compared three methods of co-localizing optodes found that using a Gaussian smoothing kernel provides the best localization of the inter-brain coupling. Neuroscience results suggest that there are differences in social cognition using online communication tools that are different to social cognition during real-world interaction.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | Methodological Innovations in TwoPerson Neuroscience experiments using fNIRS to Investigate Brain Function during Online Communication |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Med Phys and Biomedical Eng |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10207232 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
