From Lung to Brain: Respiration Modulates Neural and Mental Activity
Author: Josh Goheen1,2, John A E Anderson3, Jianfeng Zhang4,5, Georg Northoff6
Affiliation:
1 The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1Z 7K4, Canada. joshgoheen@cmail.carleton.ca.
2 Department of Cognitive Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, Canada. joshgoheen@cmail.carleton.ca.
3 Department of Cognitive Science, Carleton University, Ottawa, K1S 5B6, Canada.
4 Center for Brain Disorders and Cognitive Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
5 School of Psychology, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China.
6 The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre, The University of Ottawa, Ottawa, K1Z 7K4, Canada.
Conference/Journal: Neurosci Bull
Date published: 2023 Jun 7
Other:
Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s12264-023-01070-5. , Word Count: 162
Respiration protocols have been developed to manipulate mental states, including their use for therapeutic purposes. In this systematic review, we discuss evidence that respiration may play a fundamental role in coordinating neural activity, behavior, and emotion. The main findings are: (1) respiration affects the neural activity of a wide variety of regions in the brain; (2) respiration modulates different frequency ranges in the brain's dynamics; (3) different respiration protocols (spontaneous, hyperventilation, slow or resonance respiration) yield different neural and mental effects; and (4) the effects of respiration on the brain are related to concurrent modulation of biochemical (oxygen delivery, pH) and physiological (cerebral blood flow, heart rate variability) variables. We conclude that respiration may be an integral rhythm of the brain's neural activity. This provides an intimate connection of respiration with neuro-mental features like emotion. A respiratory-neuro-mental connection holds the promise for a brain-based therapeutic usage of respiration in mental disorders.
Keywords: Carbon dioxide; Cognition; Emotion; Heart rate variability; Respiration.
PMID: 37285017 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-023-01070-5
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