A human heart is so much more than an organ. No one says they left their pancreas in San Francisco， for example， or that two kidneys beat as one. Yet most of us believe that two hearts can beat as one， and that the heart reveals our unedited emotions. Now there' s some evidence that such folk wisdom is true.
When people listen to the same story—each alone in their own home—their heart rates rise and fall in unison， according to a new study published last month in Cell Reports. “The fluctuations of our heart rates are not random，” said Lucas Perra， a professor of biomedical engineering at City College of New York and a senior author of the study. “It's the story that drives the heart. There' s an explicit link between people's heart rates and a narrative.”
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This finding aligns with a mountain of research showing that our brains sync up when we interact in the same location，participate in the same activity， or simply agree with each other. The new study goes one step further; it tests whether our heart rates become synchronized while taking in the same narrative—even though we' re not in the same room nor even listening at the same time as other listeners.
The paper describes four small studies， each one with approximately 20 to 30 participants. In all four， subjects' heart rates were monitored via EKG while they listened to or watched various types of stories， which included short audio segments of Jules Verne' s“20，000 Leagues Under the Sea，” excerpts from educational videos， and prerecorded children's fables.
Marcel Proust wrote at the turn of the 20th century， “the heart does not lie.” The data tells us much the same： The heart' s connection to the brain is so tight that when we hear the same story， our heart rates sync up. The study found that subjects in the same group produced synchronized heart rate patterns that rose and fell at roughly the same times during the narrative. But if the subjects became distracted from the story by having to count backward， their hearts became desynchronized， and they remembered less of the story.
The results are “heartwarming，” said Prof. Perra. “The novel finding is that heart rate correlation between subjects does not require them to actually be interacting， or even be in the same place. They can be listening to stories all alone at home， and their heart rate fluctuations will align with the story， and thus correlate with other listeners. It's not the interaction between people but the story itself that does the trick.”
The point， he said， quoting another of the study' s authors， is that when we listen to the same radio program or watch a Netflix show， our hearts beat in unison， showing that “we're not alone.”
人类的心脏远不止是一个器官。例如，没有人说他们把胰腺留在了旧金山，也没有人说两个肾脏一同跳动。然而，我们大多数人都相信两颗心能一同跳动，而且心能流露真情。现在有证据表明这种民间智慧是正确的。
根据上个月发表在《细胞报告》上的一项新研究结果，当人们听同一个故事时——每个人都在家里独自聆听——他们的心率会同步上升和下降。纽约城市学院生物医学工程教授、论文的资 深作者卢卡斯·佩拉说：“我们的心率并非随机波动。是故事驱动着心脏。人们的心率和故事之间有明确联系。”
这一发现与大量研究结果吻合。这些研究表明，当我们在同一地点互动，或参与相同活动，或仅仅意见一致时，我们的大脑都会同步。这项新研究更进一步;它检测了我们在听同一个故事时心率是否会变得同步——即使我们不在同一个房间，甚至不与其他人在同一时间聆听。
这篇论文描述了四项小规模研究，每一项都有大约二三十名参与者。在所有四项研究中，当受试者收听或收看各种类型的故事时，研究人员通过心电图监测他们的心率。这些故事包括儒勒·凡尔纳《海底两万里》的简短音频片段、教育视频的节选以及预先录制的儿童寓言。
马塞尔·普鲁斯特在20世纪开始时写道：“心不会说谎。”数据告诉我们的情况也差不多：心脏与大脑的联系如此紧密，以至于当我们听到同一个故事时，我们的心率会同步。研究发现，同一小组的受试者产生了同步的心率模式，在听故事的过程中，心率差不多同时上升和下降。但是，如果强迫受试者倒着数数以使其无法专心听故事，那么他们的心跳就会变得不同步，记住的故事内容也会变少。
佩拉教授说，这些结果“温暖人心”。“新的发现是，受试者心率的相关性并不要求他们真正地互动，甚至不要求他们在同一个地方。他们可以独自在家听故事，他们的心率波动将与故事保持一致，从而与其他听者相关联。起作用的不是人与人之间的互动，而是故事本身。”
他引用该论文另一位作者的话说，重点是，当我们收听同一个广播节目或观看同一部奈飞剧时，我们的心会同步跳动，显示“我们并不孤单”。
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