From 2024, we are conducting a new series of interdisciplinary and multi-method studies looking at bio-behavioural synchrony in families¹. This involves assessing several family members at the same time in different constellations, but mostly in triads – hence TRIO. TRIO is being set up at the Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex (Colchester, UK) in collaboration with The Synapse Centre for Neurodevelopment as part of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT).

We acknowledge and celebrate that families come in all shapes and sizes. Yet, for TRIO, which examines behavioural and neurobiological correlates of social interaction, we are currently looking for participant families that include a cisgender² mother and father and their biological child.

Furthermore, while the first TRIO study is carried out in neurotypical³ participants, subsequent studies will also include families with neurodivergent⁴ children and children with experiences of early adversity, care and/or adoption together with their foster parents and/or carers.

In following these procedures, we are striving to be as inclusive as possible.

Please see below for more information on:
► Main Study Elements
► Specific Study Information
► Call for Participation
► Output: Talks & Presentations


¹ family: a group of one or more parents and their children living together as a unit.
² cisgender: identifies as the sex they were assigned at birth.
³ neurotypical: people whose brains function in a similar way to most of their peers.
⁴ neurodivergent: people whose brains function in a way that is not typical of most individuals.

►fNIRS hyperscanning during several tasks in all participants. These will include a collaborative play session, a problem discussion session and a video viewing session. This will serve to derive measures of interpersonal neural synchrony as well as interpersonal neural coupling.

►ECG hyperscanning in parents during the same tasks. This will serve to derive a measure of physiological synchrony based on heart rate.

►Blood pressure measurement during the problem discussion task to better understand the nature of physiological arousal in parents.

►Video recordings during the collaborative play and the problem discussion sessions. This will serve to derive measures of interaction quality according to several attachment-theory derived coding schemes.

►Parental self-report questionnaires of attachment, caregiving, relationship quality etc.

►Associations between all the above elements.