Executive Function, Shared Intentionality, and Interbrain Synchrony: Cognitive, Embodied and Neural Mechanisms of Joint Attention

In the field of cognitive science, understanding how humans coordinate thought and action with others is central to research on joint attention, shared intentionality, and executive function. Recent advances emphasize the interplay between high-level cognitive mechanisms and neural processes, particularly during real-time social interactions. Despite this progress, critical questions remain regarding the specific neural dynamics enabling shared goals, coordinated attention, and joint action: What are the cognitive and neural bases for linking executive function with shared intentionality? How do oscillatory brain activities support the mechanisms of joint attention, and how does interbrain synchrony reflect interpersonal coordination beyond shared perceptual input? What is the relation between the neural and embodied aspects of the dynamics of joint interaction? These questions are especially important given ongoing debates about how to interpret neurophysiological measures in social contexts, and how to separate cognitive mechanisms from methodological confounds.

A growing body of research has begun to investigate social cognition using EEG/MEG, hyperscanning, and controlled behavioral paradigms during joint and solo attention tasks. These studies report differences in executive demands during collaboration compared with individual performance, as well as changes in oscillatory activity and interbrain synchrony during social coordination. However, the field still needs tighter links between neural signals and cognitive and embodied theory, clearer tests of alternative explanations, and stronger validation of measurement approaches. There is a clear opportunity for integrative work that connects cognitive models, behavioral markers, enacted expression, and neural evidence to explain how attention, prediction, and control operate in interaction with other minds.

This Research Topic aims to advance understanding of the cognitive , embodied, and neural mechanisms that support executive function, shared intentionality, and joint attention. We welcome contributions that investigate the interplay between executive processes and social coordination; examine the role of neural oscillations and interbrain synchrony in joint attention; and critically evaluate current approaches for measuring these phenomena. Key objectives include identifying the functional contribution of specific executive function components to joint attention and shared goals; disentangling true interpersonal coupling from shared-task or shared-stimulus effects; and developing integrative cognitive-neural and -embodied models that account for variation across individuals and contexts.

The scope of this Research Topic prioritizes work that explains core cognitive mechanisms of social interaction and their implications for human cognition, supported by behavioral paradigms and -where relevant- neurophysiological data. Submissions should not focus on neural metrics alone, but should explicitly connect measures to cognitive constructs, embodied interaction, and testable predictions. We welcome submissions including (but not limited to):

- Cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying joint attention and shared intentionality

- Embodied dynamics and their relation to neural mechanisms in joint phenomena

- Executive function components as drivers of social coordination and joint action

- Neural oscillations in joint attention and collaborative control

- Interbrain synchrony: interpretation, validity, and links to cognitive theory

- Joint versus solo attention/EF task comparisons (behavioral and neurophysiological)

- Methods papers and critical evaluations of hyperscanning and synchrony metrics

- Integrative theoretical frameworks linking cognition, behavior, and neural dynamics

- Developmental, lifespan, and cross-cultural perspectives on joint attention and EF

This Research Topic welcomes empirical studies, reviews, meta-analyses, theoretical papers, and methods papers that advance cognitive-science understanding of social coordination and its neural correlates.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Registered Report
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Executive function, Joint attention, Shared intentionality, Neural oscillations, Interbrain synchrony

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.