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.

(Read by Renee Haines. Renee Haines is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.)

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(Agencies)