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Leaders and their followers tick in sync
March 24, 2015 by NewsBot
Great leaders are often good communicators. In the process of communication, the relationship between leaders and their followers develops spontaneously, according to new research. When a member becomes the group leader, the leader's brain activity in the left temporo-parietal junction, known as representing others' mental states, begins to synchronize with that in the same area of their followers. Based on interpersonal neural synchronization, the researchers were even able to predict who would emerge as leader of a group, and when. The findings also suggest that interpersonal neural synchronization is more likely due to the communication skills of the leader and less likely due to how much they speak. Thus, in a group of peers, the individual who says the right things at the right time usually emerges as the leader.