A Narrative Review Examining the Utility of Interpersonal Synchrony for the Caregiver-Care Recipient Relationship in Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias

Abstract

The stressful nature of caring for an older adult with a chronic disease, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), can create barriers between the caregiver-care recipient, as they try to navigate their continuously changing social relationship. Interpersonal synchrony (i.e., matching or similarity of movement, emotions, hormones, or brain activity), is an innovative approach that could help to sustain caregiving relationship dynamics by promoting feelings of connection and empathy through shared behavior and experiences. This review investigates the current literature on interpersonal synchrony from an interdisciplinary perspective by examining interpersonal synchrony through psychological, neural, and hormonal measures across the adult lifespan. We then present a case for examining the degree to which interpersonal synchrony can be used to facilitate affiliation and well-being in the caregiver-care recipient relationship. We find that there is significant evidence in healthy adult populations that interpersonal synchrony can support affiliative feelings, prosocial behavior, and well-being. Characterizing the psychological, neural, and hormonal mechanisms of interpersonal synchrony is a first step towards laying the groundwork for the development of tools to support relational closeness and empathy in the caregiving context. Finally, we explore the strengths and limitations of using interpersonal synchrony to support relational well-being, and discuss possible avenues for future research.

Behavioral and neural underpinnings of empathic characteristics in a Humanitude-care expert

“…In the general clinical care literature, several studies have found that empathic traits in caregivers generally produced good patient outcomes, such as patient satisfaction and improved cholesterol levels [e.g., ( 106 ); for reviews, see ( 107 , 108 )]. Some studies also showed that behaviors and experiences shared between caregivers and patients were associated with symptom reduction in those with chronic illnesses [e.g., ( 109 ); for a review, see ( 110 )]. Interviews with numerous caregivers of people with dementia revealed that shared emotion was vital to maintaining relationships with people with dementia ( 111 ).…”

Interpersonal Physiological Synchrony for Detecting Moments of Connection in Persons With Dementia: A Pilot Study

“…This fracturing of relationships at intimate and community levels contributes to the loss of personhood experienced by the individual with dementia and their carer (Kitwood, 1997 ). Techniques that can detect moments of interpersonal synchrony between an individual with dementia and their carer have the potential to mitigate this loss of personhood by manifesting otherwise-hidden moments of connection (Gifford et al, 2021 ). This study demonstrates that such a technology is feasible with this population, providing the first step toward the development of systems that use physiological synchrony to sustain the relationships and personhood of individuals with minimal communicative abilities.…”

“…The patterns of physiological linkages across different social contexts provide insight into social factors such as emotion, empathy, influence, conflict, and cooperation, that may not be accessible through self-reports or behavioral observations alone (Blain and McKeever, 2011 ; Thorson et al, 2018 ). As such, it has particular promise for providing insight into the interpersonal interaction dynamics of individuals who are unable to provide self-report and those who are otherwise minimally communicative (Monin and Schulz, 2009 ; Gifford et al, 2021 ).…”