Human: The World Within

-At the speeds Danny and Tarah are moving, five senses just won't cut it. So they rely on something even more fundamental. Some people call it the sixth sense, but it could just as easily be called the first -- proprioception. In simple terms, the sense of where your body is in space. -So you can imagine there's a two-way highway of signals that constantly reaches areas of your body that are far away from the brain. Those areas actually tell something about the status of your body to the brain. -Wrapped around specialized fibers inside every muscle are tiny springs that stretch when we move. The precise direction and speed of that motion activate receptors in the spring that create an electrical signal. -Those receptors send that information to different parts of the brain. When the brain processes that, it sends information back -- for example, our motor nerves, to say, "Move your hand." -All of us use this sense constantly. Without it, you wouldn't be able to pick up a glass or touch your nose in the dark. But on the ice, it's critical for knowing when to stop rotating, or where to place your blade so it doesn't nick your partner. And yet, for pairs skaters, there's still one more challenge. And it is the most elusive. -We have to have such synchronization and unison. -You need to have chemistry together as a team. And physically, your bodies need to match. At this point in time, I know every tap... ...every squeeze. I know almost what he's going to do before he does it. When we're doing lifts, Danny will just slightly grip my body in a way that communicates to me that it's time for me to change positions. And we've never even discussed that. -The synergy that Danny and Tarah have created over years of training has a lot to do with touch, and its unique ability to deepen a physical connection.