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Ever had the feeling that your partner has the power to read your mind?
Well you may not be imagining it.
Scientists have found that some couples are so in tune that their brains
begin to work in sync.
In research that points to the existence of a 'sixth sense', the team found
identical patterns of brain activity in volunteers who had become so close they
were 'physiologically aligned'.
That means they had reached a state in which their nervous systems were
ticking over in harmony, helping them to know each other's thoughts and
emotions.
The extraordinary findings emerged from an analysis of brain activity in
patients and counsellors in therapy sessions.
The researchers involved believe it also sheds light on the behaviour of
couples, close friends or family members. Psychologists have long known that
some couples learn to think like each other – allowing them to 'know' what their
partner is thinking or about to say.
But the new study goes further by looking into the activity of the nervous
system.
Dr Trisha Stratford, of Sydney's University of Technology, studied the
brains and heartbeats of 30 volunteers during counselling sessions.
She identified a crucial moment when the counsellor and patient's brains
started to work in sync in an 'altered state'.
She said: 'When this happens we can read each other's brains and bodies at
a deeper level – a sixth sense.'
During the 'altered state', the part of each person's brain that controls
the nervous system began to beat together.
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