Anu Tourunen
Biography
I’m an Academy Research Fellow and Principal Investigator of the project "The Rhythm of Connection: Individual Traits, Relationship, and Situation Shaping Interpersonal Synchrony (IRSync)" (2025–2029, Research Council of Finland). I’m also writing a popular science book on bodily connections (2025–2027), funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
My work is driven by a fascination with the interplay between mind, body, and social interaction. My expertise centers on interpersonal synchrony, with a focus on autonomic nervous system activity and psychophysiology - particularly electrodermal activity and cardiac measures. I hold a broad interest in nonverbal attunement and emotional co-regulation. At the heart of my research is a commitment to bridging disciplines and approaches to better understand the nuanced connections between psychological processes, physiological responses, and social interactions in diverse relational contexts.
Research interests
Relationships are vital for well-being and health, with bodily synchrony – where people's reactions align – playing a key role in forming and maintaining social bonds. The IRSync research examines how individuals synchronize nonverbally through autonomic nervous system responses, movements, and facial expressions. It explores how individual traits, relationship types, and situational factors influence synchrony. The study focuses on six relationship types: couples, friends, siblings, parent and adult child pairs, colleagues, and strangers. Participants engage in paired discussions where emotional climate, cognitive alignment, sense of connection, and the level of cooperation vary. Electrodermal activity, heart rate measures, and video recordings of facial expressions and body movements are analyzed to study synchrony. The research deepens our understanding of nonverbal human connection and produces new resources, including open data for synchrony research.