People whose brains respond alike tend to grow closer - scanned while still strangers
What they found
Classmates who grew closer over six months had, as strangers, responded more alike to video clips than pairs who drifted apart. Pairs who were friends by month eight had started out more alike than pairs three links apart in the class network.
How they know
41 MBA students at one US university had fMRI scans, most within days of arriving, watching 14 clips. The class of 288 named friends at two and eight months, mutual choices only.
What it means for you
How you take in the world may be linked to who you grow close to. No link showed at two months, only later.
The limits
One class, 41 volunteers, observational, not yet replicated - no proof of cause. Friends did not differ from friends of friends. The friend effect sat in one brain region and faded once demographics were controlled.
This is a short takeaway in our own words, not a reproduction of the study. For the method, the sample and the caveats, read the original. Mind lives inside the Booking Minds app under the brain icon, where you can save and share each piece.