Why do we decide to approach other people? According to new research, the answer may start unfolding in the brain several seconds before any movement takes place.

A team of scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has identified a distinctive pattern of brain activity that appears before social interaction begins. Their findings suggest that the brain is already preparing for a social encounter before an individual takes action, and that the strength of this neural activity may reflect how socially motivated someone is.

Tracking Social Decisions in Real Time
To investigate how social decisions are formed, the researchers used zebrafish, a popular model organism that allows scientists to observe activity across the brain at the level of individual cells.

The team created a new experimental system in which one fish watched and responded to another fish that was swimming nearby. While this happened, researchers recorded activity throughout the observing fish’s brain in real time.

This approach allowed them to follow the neural processes involved in social behavior as they unfolded, revealing how the brain transforms social information into action.

A Brain-Wide Signal Before Social Behavior
The researchers discovered that the brain begins shifting into a different state several seconds before a fish moves toward another fish.

Rather than relying on a single region dedicated to social behavior, the process involved coordinated changes across multiple parts of the brain.