That Feeling Of Being On The Same Wavelength With Someone Is A Totally Real Thing, Says Research
Matheus Bertelli | CanvaYou know the feeling. Songs have been sung about this moment; poems written, romantic movies acted out for this very thing: When you meet someone else's eyes and you just "click."
Though on the outside it's a simple meeting between two people, inside you know that it feels like angels chorusing around you. You can't stop smiling. You can instinctively tell that you're on "the same wavelength" with someone you've only just met.
Or perhaps you're having a conversation with someone, and you begin to feel like they must have felt, either overjoyed or crippled with shame, depending on what they're talking about. You're doing more than putting yourself in their shoes; you're really, truly understanding where they're coming from.
That feeling of being on the same wavelength with someone is a totally real thing, says research
PintoArt | Shutterstock
This feeling is a weirdly intuitive sensation that usually leads you to believe you'll get on well with someone you've just met, or that it can help you empathize with and connect with someone you're speaking to. There's a long history of names for it, but whatever it's called, you just know.
You know you're on that person's wavelength, and they're on yours. You're sharing information without speaking, making a mental connection that you simply cannot explain. And according to science, your gut instinct is actually right, in this case.
If you've ever met another being that you felt "tuned in to" or connected on the same mental wavelength, guess what? It's not just pseudoscience after all.
The feeling of being on the same wavelength as someone is called 'brain coupling,' and yes, it really does exist
DavideAngelini | Shutterstock
Perhaps not on Spock's mind-meld level, but this is a research-validated and measurable phenomenon.
Princeton University neuroscientist Uri Hasson looked inside people's brains using an fMRI machine while they engaged in everyday activities and held conversations. According to Princeton News, these studies revealed crucial insights into how your brain absorbs information over time and how you can actually connect, at a brain-wave level, with another human being.
They discovered that during conversations in which people were telling stories to one another, brain activity should have been distinctly different, as these were two separate functions: speaking and listening. However, the activity in both people's heads was actually strikingly similar.
The stronger the connection between two people, the more their brains actually mirrored each other
"The stronger the coupling between the speaker and the listener's brain responses, the better the understanding," said Hasson. "Sometimes when you speak with someone, you get the feeling that you cannot get through to them, and other times you know that you click. When you really understand each other, your brains become more similar in responses over time."
While there is still a lot we don't understand about the functionality of our brains, it may open a can of worms, allowing previously determined pseudosciences to become real, honest "science." This might even begin to explain many things people don't fully understand, like gut instinct or a person's ability to empathize with someone else on a deep, emotional level.
So next time you get a "good vibration" from someone, trust that instinct, because your brain really is telling you that there is a connection there.
Merethe Najjar is a professional writer, editor, and award-winning fiction author from Atlanta, Georgia. She has had multiple publications featured in The Aviator Magazine, Infinite Press, Yahoo, BRIDES, and others.
