Face to the Screen: How Virtual Communication Is Reshaping Us

The COVID-19 pandemic forced a shift in how we communicate with others. At its height, conversations with family and friends, school lessons, and work meetings moved online, relying heavily on video calls. Even after the pandemic subsided, video meetings have remained far more common than before.

A phenomenon known as “Zoom fatigue” — an unusual level of tiredness following video conferences — drew the attention of researchers, who began investigating patterns of brain activity during virtual communication. Even before solid research emerged, experts speculated about potential causes. These included disruptions in the natural rhythm of conversation due to response delays, as well as the absence of non-verbal cues, such as facial expressions and body language that help us interpret emotions.

When we interact face-to-face, we often mirror each other’s gestures, facial expressions, or body movements — for example, smiling in response to someone else's smile. Social interactions can also lead to a phenomenon called neural synchronization, in which brain activity between two people becomes more aligned.

Early in the pandemic, researchers proposed that virtual communication may lead to different patterns of brain activity compared to in-person encounters — potentially resulting in weaker neural synchronization. Face-to-face interactions involve rich sensory input: eye contact, tone of voice, body gestures, touch, and even subtle biological cues such as scent — all of which contribute to stronger neural synchronization and are either diminished or absent in virtual communication. If neural synchronization is indeed reduced online, it’s significant — because this alignment helps strengthen social bonds and supports the formation of meaningful relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic required us to change how we communicate with others. Zoom application screen | Shutterstock, DANIEL CONSTANTE

Not Quite in Sync

Now, nearly five years after the onset of the pandemic, growing evidence suggests that brain activity during remote communication differs from that during face-to-face interaction. A study published in April 2023, examined this by having participants perform tasks in pairs—some meeting in person, others virtually. Their brain activity was recorded using fNIRS (Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy), a neuroimaging technique that detects changes in oxygen levels in the cerebral cortex as specific brain regions become more or less active.

The sessions were video-recorded, and participants completed questionnaires evaluating their subjective experience, personality traits, creativity, and familiarity with virtual communication. The findings revealed that virtual meetings involved fewer conversational turn-taking moments, suggesting a disruption in the natural rhythm of dialogue—a key element of effective social communication. Video calls were also associated with increased activity in the right frontal regions of the brain, which was linked to the reduced conversational turn-taking. Fewer conversational exchanges were also associated with lower levels of collaboration between participants and weaker performance on tasks designed to assess problem-solving, creative thinking, and social-emotional skills.

Moreover, the study found notable differences in brain synchronization between virtual and in-person meetings. Overall, virtual interactions showed fewer patterns of neural synchronization associated with cooperation and social engagement.

Virtual meetings involved fewer moments of conversational turn-taking, suggesting a disruption in the natural flow of communication. Woman in a Zoom meeting | Shutterstock, Andrey_Popov

Meet My Eyes

In another study comparing brain activity patterns during face-to-face and virtual meetings, researchers also examined participants’ gaze direction and pupil size using eye-tracking technology. The findings showed that participants who met in person spent more time looking at each other’s faces. In addition, their pupils were more dilated — a physiological indicator of higher arousal.

In terms of brain activity patterns, slow brain waves — associated, among other things, with the processing of facial expressions — were stronger during face-to-face interactions. The researchers also found that different neural pathways were activated in the two modes of communication,  with higher levels of neural synchronization in specific brain regions among participants who met face-to-face.

The researchers concluded that virtual communication reduces neural activity in pathways involved in social processing. They suggested that key social cues — such as facial expressions and body language — are not conveyed as effectively in virtual settings. One possible explanation for this is the inability to make direct eye contact during video calls.

Remote learning became another major shift during the COVID-19 pandemic. A child studies in front of a computer | Shutterstock, Maria Symchych

Learning from Afar

Another major shift during the COVID-19 pandemic was the widespread shift to remote learning, which sparked concerns about the quality of education delivered through online platforms. In a study published about two years ago,  researchers at the Technion compared learning outcomes in traditional face-to-face classrooms with those in virtual lessons. The study included a short 15-minute lesson, followed by five comprehension questions for the students.  Throughout the session, the brain activity of both the teacher and the students was recorded using EEG.

The results showed that, in face-to-face settings, students demonstrated higher levels of understanding and greater neural synchronization with the teacher.  However, the small sample size limited the statistical power of the findings, highlighting the need for further research with larger groups to strengthen the findings. Still, the study suggests that in-person learning in person may promote stronger neural alignment and sustained attention - key components for more effective learning

Just Write

Alongside the gradual decline in face-to-face communication, text-based communication — such as through messaging apps like WhatsApp — has been steadily rising. A research group at Reichman University focused on the question of whether social relationships maintained through texting can satisfy the human need for closeness. To investigate this, they measured brain synchronization in seventy mother–teenager pairs, comparing text-based exchanges with natural, face-to-face conversations.

The results showed that the brains of the mothers and teenagers synchronized in the beta wave range — which plays a role in bonding, empathy, and compassion — both during texting and during face-to-face communication. However, this synchronization was significantly stronger and lasted longer in in-person interactions.

Brain synchronization can occur even through text-only communication, though less strongly than in face-to-face interaction. From the article: Schwartz, L., et al. Sci Rep 2024

The findings suggest that brain synchronization processes can occur even when communication takes place through low-information media and text-only communication — but to a lesser degree than in face-to-face interactions. While texting offers clear benefits—such as enabling real-time support from a distance, the researchers concluded that in-person interactions foster a richer network of inter-brain connections — which simply isn’t formed when communication relies on texting.Text-based technology does not fully satisfy the human need for connection and social interaction. The researchers suggest that we may be paying a price when we choose texting over in-person conversation. They even caution that excessive reliance on texting - especially among adolescents, whose brains are still developing—may have negative consequences. 

In sum, virtual communication appears to affect both brain and behavior: reducing neural synchronization, disrupting conversational flow, impairing learning quality, and altering the way we process social cues. That said, it’s important to emphasize that neural synchronization does occur in online interactions — just to a lesser extent.