110 CHAPTER FOUR
are believed to exhibit synchrony, for example, when they unknowingly
coordinate eye blinking and speech patterns (Argent 2012). As Hall put it,
“People in interactions move in a ‘kind of dance,’ but they are not aware of
their synchronous movement” (1976, 71, cited in Argent 2012, 116). Syn-
chrony has been used in developmental psychology to address the mutual
adjustments of bodies in parent- infant interactions. Multispecies scholars
are now examining synchrony between animals of different species, for
example, between humans and horses and humans and dogs as they move
together. Gala Argent, for example, argues that the coordination of horse
and rider involves a “corporeal, synchrony-^ induced sensation of boundary
loss,” which can be experienced as pleasurable for both (121).
In specifically biobehavioral synchrony, Feldman looks at the physiolog-
ical components of close relations and their role in building attachments.
Ongoing, repeated practices of intimacy and care, such as those that take
place in breastfeeding, involve “micro- level social behaviors in the gaze, vo-
cal, affective, and touch modalities” (Feldman 2012, 380). Feldman argues
that these are “dynamically integrated with online physiological processes
and hormonal response to create dyad-^ specific affiliations” (380). In other
words, she argues that while attachments are supported by oxytocin (as well
as other systems), they are not automatic or static. Rather, bodies in inter-
action build them. During touching and contact, for example, the oxytocin
system offers biobehavioral feedback in two directions; parental touch, for
example, triggers oxytocin release in both infant and parent. Over time,
“these discrete synchronized bio- behavioral events coordinate to form the
unique bond that characterize the rhythms, content, focus, and pace of
the specific attachment relationship.... Synchrony, therefore, describes a
critical component of close relationships that builds on familiarity with the
partner’s style, manner, non- verbal patterns, personal rhythms, behavioral
preferences, and pace of intimacy” (382). Here, synchrony is an affective,
material event in which bodies become mutually attuned and oriented
toward each other. It is simultaneously experienced in individual bodies
and wholly relational, generated through embodied social interaction with
specific others. In Feldman’s view there are long- term effects; she argues
that an individual’s capacity for affiliative bonds throughout life is built on
“unique neurohormonal systems and brain circuits” that are tied to specific
behaviors taking place in social interactions (381). While Feldman privi-