# Electrophysiological Hyperscanning of Negotiation During Group-Oriented Decision-Making
## 5 Conclusions  
These findings provide first evidence for understanding the EEG neural basis of negotiation in group-oriented decision-making. The observed frontal delta and theta activity highlight the role of emotional engagement and motivation in shaping negotiation strategies, while parieto-occipital beta and gamma oscillations underscore the cognitive demands associated with integrating diverse perspectives. Furthermore, the presence of greater frontal dissimilarity in the delta band suggests that negotiation is not a process of complete alignment at the neural level, but rather it requires increased cognitive effort in conflict resolution, suppression of competing responses, or the negotiation of divergent interpretations. This has potential applications in various applied settings, such as the organizational one, where negotiation appears essential in group decision-making dynamics and knowing the neural bases of this process can promote empowering interventions in professionals. Indeed, beyond its theoretical contributions, this study has potential applications in domains such as professional negotiation training, conflict resolution, and teamwork optimization. The finding that negotiation involves distinct cognitive and affective regulation processes suggests that interventions aimed at enhancing strategic flexibility and emotional regulation could improve negotiation outcomes. Furthermore, the observed inter-brain dissimilarity in frontal delta activity highlights the importance of developing training programs that foster adaptive cognitive control rather than mere synchrony, particularly in high-stakes decision-making contexts. In conclusion, this study provides first evidence that negotiation in group-oriented decision-making is supported by distinct neural mechanisms at both the individual and dyadic levels. These findings advance our understanding of the neurophysiological foundations of negotiation and offer new perspectives on how neural alignment contributes to effective group interactions. Future research should explore additional factors that may influence neural synchronization during negotiation, such as personality traits, cultural differences, and the complexity of decision-making scenarios. Moreover, extending the investigation to larger and more diverse groups could provide deeper insights into how neural dynamics scale in multi-person interactions. L.A.: conceptualization, methodology, investigation, visualization, writing--original draft, writing--review and editing; K.R. : data curation, investigation, formal analysis, software, visualization, writing--original draft, writing--review and editing; C.A. : data curation, investigation, formal analysis, software, visualization, writing--original draft, writing--review and editing; A.D.: writing--review and editing, visualization; M.B. : conceptualization, project administration, supervision, resources, funding acquisition, validation, writing--original draft; writing--review and editing. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. This work was funded by the D1 funding of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy. The study's experimental design and procedures were reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Department of Psychology at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy (approval code: 125/24--Valutare il Decision Making: consapevolezza e metacognizione decisionale; approval date: 23 July 2024), and according to the GDPR--Reg. UE 2016/679 and its ethical guidelines. The participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study. Informed Consent Statement: Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to ethical reasons for sensitive personal data protection (requests will be evaluated according to the GDPR--Reg. UE 2016/679 and its ethical guidelines).