Assi Dahan

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About

Assi Dahan’s research lies at the fascinating intersection of human movement, social interaction, and cognitive science, with a particular focus on the dynamics of joint improvised motion. Her major contribution challenges the prevailing assumption that synchrony is the sole hallmark of successful interaction. Instead, Dahan’s seminal 2016 paper, “Exit from Synchrony in Joint Improvised Motion” (43 citations), reveals that people repeatedly enter and exit synchrony during effective communication—a crucial insight for understanding therapy, marriage, and parent-infant bonding. By demonstrating that the ability to break synchrony is as important as achieving it, she reframes how we think about coordination in complex social settings. Her work has influenced fields ranging from embodied cognition to clinical psychology, offering a more nuanced view of human connection. Dahan’s research is notable for its innovative use of motion-tracking and improvisation paradigms, bridging art and science. For students and researchers, her findings underscore that flexibility, not just alignment, is key to adaptive social behavior.