A new study from the the University of Colorado at Boulder shows that reaching for the hand of a loved one in pain can ease and synchronise breathing and heart rate. The study is the latest in a growing body of research exploring a phenomenon known as “interpersonal synchronization” in which people physiologically mirror the people they are with.
Journal reference: Pavel Goldstein, Irit Weissman-Fogel, Guillaume Dumas, Simone G. Shamay-Tsoory. Brain-to-brain coupling during handholding is associated with pain reduction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018; 201703643 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1703643115