The mystery behind the ''sixth sense'' - how people interact on a
physiological level - is a step closer to being unravelled, according to
a Sydney neuroscientist.

has shown that two people can become physiologically aligned - parts of
their nervous systems beating in harmony - despite having no physical
contact with each another.

Trisha Stratford, the neuropsychotherapist who did the research at
University of Technology, Sydney, said her study provided a deeper
understanding of what happened when people interacted, including when a
couple fell in love.

best to communicate with or ''chat up'' a potential partner using this
sixth sense, which has long been suggested but never extensively
identified in science.

on the finger to measure skin conductance resonance to identify the
moment of alignment or ''oneness'' during individual counselling with a
therapist.

connection or ''physiological concordance'' between two people - but his
study, conducted three years ago, was limited and he called for more
research.

''Interestingly, I had already started my PhD looking into the same
thing as Dr Marci,'' said Ms Stratford, who has published one paper and
is awaiting publication of three others submitted to international
journals.

people becoming one and looked at what was happening in the brain.

''It was very exciting. When we're in this moment of oneness or an
altered state, the most exciting thing is that a part of the brain
called the parietal lobe is fired into action.

Sara Lal, senior lecturer in the university's department of medical
and molecular biosciences, said the visual and audio face-to-face
communication between the therapists and the volunteer patients had
resulted in the alignment of what is known as their autonomic nervous
systems.

Videos of the counselling sessions showed the patients' body
language changed as alignment occurred, the eyes changed their focus and
the patients became oblivious to the surroundings. The patients, who
received the therapy for a variety of reasons, were shown to have lower
levels of anxiety and lower heart rates at the end of the sessions. They
all said they had benefited from them.

enhance the relationship between teacher and student and between doctor
and patient.

Psychotherapist Alan Meara, president of Gestalt Australia & New
Zealand, who was a Phd supervisor for the research, said: ''This sixth
sense isn't something that is magical. It is something that the human
brain is wired to do. The research shows that we do have the capacity to
understand people at a deeper level than we normally do in general
conversation.''

in neuroscience, said: ''It appears that as we connect deeply with
someone by using our sixth sense [and other senses] we are using our
creative imagination to read the other person.''

partner? ''You need to give them your total, undivided attention,'' she
said.

Beware the third date.

four different areas. The heart was monitored by ECG and the body
through skin conductance resonance - a monitor taped to the finger.

The electrodes monitored activity in four areas of the brain at the
moment of ''alignment''. The monitoring showed heightened activity in
the parietal part of the brain, which is considered to be the seat of
the imagination.

It is the ''alignment'' between two people that researcher Trisha
Stratford said enabled the relationship between individuals to be
elevated to another level.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/wellbeing/4168990/Scientists-close-to-cracking-sixth-sense