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. 2025 Jan 13:18:1476535.
doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2024.1476535. eCollection 2024.

Gender differences in oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) changes during drawing interactions in romantic couples: an fNIRS study

Xinxin Huang  1 , Limin Bai  1 , Yantong Chen  1 , Hongsen Cui  1 , Lishen Wang  1
Affiliations

Gender differences in oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) changes during drawing interactions in romantic couples: an fNIRS study

Xinxin Huang et al. Front Behav Neurosci. .

Abstract

Interpersonal interaction is essential to romantic couples. Understanding how gender impacts an individual's brain activities during intimate interaction is crucial. The present study examined gender differences in oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb) changes during real-time drawing interactions between members of romantic couples using non-invasive functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). We analyzed the oxy-Hb concentrations of romantic couples engaged in interactive (i.e., chase and escape) and non-interactive (i.e., individual) drawing sessions. Our findings indicated that males (vs. females) exhibited more pronounced oxy-Hb concentrations in Broca's area, motor area, sensorimotor cortex, and temporal lobe areas than women in an interactive drawing task, suggesting a heightened goal-oriented engagement in social interaction. Significant positive correlations were found between oxy-Hb volumes of the temporal area and the Quality of Relationship Index (QRI), underscoring the impact of interpersonal dynamics on brain function during interactive tasks. This study deepens the understanding of gender differences in neural mechanisms in social interaction tasks and provides important insights for intimacy research.

Keywords: drawing interactions; fNIRS; male–female couples; oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb); real-time.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Experimental procedure. (A) Participant engaged in the interactive drawing tasks (chasing or escaping) with the partner; (B) participant engaged in the individual drawing task (draw alone condition).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Spatial distribution of the recording channels. (A–C) show the fNIRS channels from the right hemisphere, frontal view and left hemisphere angles, respectively; the numbers 1–48 indicate the 48 fNIRS channels (CH 1–48).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Brain activations for gender and condition interaction effects, with chromatic representation of the intensity of activation based on the F-values. R, right view; F, frontal view; L, left view.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Simple effects analysis results in ROIs (A–C) and the time course (D–F). (A) A1: left Broca’s area; (B,C) B1/B2: left/right temporal area; (D–F) the corresponding time course of A1/B1/B2.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Correlation between oxy-Hb volumes in right temporal area and QRI (Quality of Relationship Index).
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