Scientists believe they have uncovered the secret behind ‘gut feeling’ claiming the human brain has a form of wi-fi which is constantly gathering information on other people by simply looking at them.
Professor Digby Tatum of the University of Sheffield has been researching the human brain and how people communicate.
He believes his work shows that language only plays a limited role when it comes to communication.
Professional poker players believe they can pick up ‘tells’ from their opponents by picking up on visual clues, or slight movements.
Prof Tatum, who is the university’s Clinical Professor of Psychotherapy, said people can pick up on subliminal information.
He has written about his findings in a new book, The Interbrain, published by Jessica Kinglsey Publishers.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, Prof Tatum said: ‘We can know directly about other people’s emotions and what they are paying attention to. It is based on the direct connection between our brains and other people’s and between their brain and ours. I call this the interbrain.’
He claimed humans are drawn together at football matches, concerts and religious ceremonies because of the concept of the interbrain.
He said: ‘Being in crowd mode may also make us experience what it would be like to transcend out perspective, our time, our place and our capacity, to feel for a moment, like a driving being.’
Although he warned that communicating through video calls can interrupt this process and could cause harm.
He added: ‘Emotional contagion occurs at the speed of light, not the speed of electronic transmission. Face-to-face visual input is accompanied by sound, by gesture, by the smell of sweat, by the possibility of touch, and by a connect.’
