HEARTBOND
SCIENCE
An overview of our scientific research, ground-breaking discoveries and the implications for the understanding of psychology, relationships
and the nature of consciousness
What We Have Measured
We have been measuring how heart rate changes with time. This is called Heart Rate Variability (HRV) - the blue line on the chart. Our heart rates rise and fall with exercise, hormones and breathing, but also with our emotions. When we feel love or friendship our breath deepens and lengthens and this can be seen happening opposite. The green line is a measure of this change of rythmn.
Implications: By controlling for other factors that affect our heart rythmns, it is possible to measure positive emotions, such as the feeling of love using heart rate variability. We call this measure coherence. It can be increased through resonant breathing, meditation and positive intention.
Our Experiments
In our experiments we simultanously measure the heart rate variability of two people who are in a variety of relationship situations. We design the experiments to control for the factors that could contribute to HRV. We then analyse the two HRV traces and estimate the amount of correlation between them and display the results. This gives us a measure of synchronisation between the two hearts.
Implications: The experiments we have conducted allow us to study the mechanisms underlying the phenomenon of HRV Synchronisation. For instance we can vary the distance between experimenters or ask them to vary their feelings and focus for the other person.
Our Equipment
At the beginning of our research we recorded the heart rates of pairs of experimenters into two laptops, bringing the data together for analysis and display after the experiment had ended. Later we developed a smartphone app (HEARTBOND) to record, analyse and display the data and synchronisation in real-time. The heart rates are recorded using either a pulse or chestband ECG heart rate monitor via bluetooth.
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Implications: The real-time recording, analysis and display of the heart rate data allows the design of experiments that assess the impact of experimenters changing their thoughts. feelings and levels of attention. This has lead to significant discoveries about the mechanism underlying HRV synchronisation (see below).
An example of our HEARTBOND app in action!
Confirming Exisiting Research
Local HRV Synchronisation
Scientists have known for many years that the heart rate patterns of two people who are in a bonded relationship synchronise and this has become an area of increasing academic research. We have replicated this research by running experiments, simultaneously recording the HRV of two people in the same room at close-proximity as they focus their positive feelings for each other, engage in conversation or distract themselves.
2 m. apart
Synchronisation of HRV frequency measure for two people maintaining eye-contact and feeling appreciation and gratitude for each other
Implications: We have confirmed existing research that shows that HRV Synchronisation occurs at close-proximity for pairs of people who are feeling positive or loving feelings for each other. The synchronisation falls away when the experimenters distract their attention for each other.
512 km. apart
What We Have Discovered
1. Nonlocal HRV Synchronisation
We repeated the local HRV synchronisation experiments with pairs of people separated by distances ranging from several metres in neighbourning rooms to many thousands of kilometres (nonlocal). To our surprise we discovered that HRV sychronisation persists despite the absence of conventional forms of communication. In some cases the in and out breaths of both experimenters also synchronised.
Synchronisation of HRV for for two people feeling love, appreciation and gratitude for each other at a distance. No communication devices operational.
Implications: The persistence of HRV synchronisation over distances where conventional sensory communication is not involved suggests that their is another mechanism responsible for the phenomenon. We hypothesize that this could be electromagnetic in nature or perhaps the results point towards a nonlocal, quantum origin for consciousness.
What We Have Discovered
2. Intentional HRV Synchronisation
Our real-time app allowed us to conduct experiments where we could alternate the attention and positive focus of one experimenter while asking the second experimenter to distract themselves. This led to the discovery that one person can intentionally influence the heart rate variability of another by adjusting their breathing pattern and levels of attention. We also discovered that a positive, loving HRV pattern of the sender induces a similar pattern in the receiver. We have confirmed that this intentional effect is present both locally and nonlocally.
25 m. apart
One person (blue) intentionally influencing the HRV patterns of distracted person (red) sitting in a separate building and with no communication devices operational.
Implications: The ability to influence another person's heart rate patterns intentionally both locally and nonlocally radically changes our understanding of relationship communications and dynamics. Being able to influence another person's HRV patterns towards those associated with positive emotions has far-reaching implications for therapeutic healing interventions.
The Next Steps
We recognise that our discoveries challenge the prevailing scientific understanding of psychology and interpersonal communication, but we believe that such knowledge, if confirmed, is critically important for our understanding of relationship dynamics, consciousness and the human condition. We therefore encourage other scientists to reproduce our experiments and attempt to replicate our results.
In the meantime we are working to develop our app and integrate it with a range of heart-connected, therapeutic interventions that will help people build stronger and happier relationships, and enhance their wellbeing.
