How Breathing Affects our Brain

Our breath is our most intimate, potent tool to change the way we feel. Simply slowing it down, softening it can instantly soothe stress and create clarity. Similarly, as a child at the height of a tantrum or someone in the midst of a panic attack can demonstrate, speeding it up, sharpening it can increase distress and even cause hyperventilation.
When we are angry, anxious or afraid our breath tends to become shallow, but similarly, studies show we can induce positive or negative emotions by changing the rhythm and depth of our breath.
Our bodies respond to what we do with our breath just as our breath responds to what we do with our bodies. It is a process many of us intuitively understand and yoga and meditation teachers have tapped into for centuries.
However, the underlying mechanism has not always been clear.
A fascinating new study provides insight into the process and reveals the unique effect of nasal breathing.
Previous research has showed that electrical activity in the brain changes with the breath. This prompted researchers to wonder whether the functions associated with the areas – namely emotional regulation and memory – were also affected and how changing the breath could change the effect.
So 60 participants were rapidly shown photographs of faces exhibiting either fear or surprise and asked to name the emotion while researchers recorded their breath.
Participants were able to more accurately identify fear when they were shown pictures while inhaling through their nose.
The accuracy of identifying surprise was not affected by the type of breath and the accuracy of identifying fear decreased when participants breathed through their nose.
In a separate experiment, participants were asked to recall objects shown to them earlier. Their memory proved more accurate if they were shown the initial picture during an inhalation, prompting researchers to believe that there is an evolutionary advantage to nasal breathing in times of distress.
“If you are in a panic state, your breathing rhythm becomes faster,” said lead author Christina Zelano, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University. “As a result you’ll spend proportionally more time inhaling than when in a calm state. Thus, our body’s innate response to fear with faster breathing could have a positive impact on brain function and result in faster response times to dangerous stimuli in the environment.”
Zelano added that their research may help to explain why mediation and yogic breath favours nasal breathing.
“When you inhale, you are in a sense synchronising brain oscillations across the limbic network,” she said.
We are often advised to breathe through the nose because it warms, filters, and moistens the air before it reaches the lungs. We miss these advantages when we breath through the mouth.
From the perspective of yoga, because it stimulates the olfactory nerve, which as well as being responsible for smell, sends messages to the brain, nasal breathing is considered better for helping to steady the mind.
Now, we know, not only can it activate the relaxation response, breathing through the nose can also help us to respond faster if we’re in trouble.
Use the breath to reduce stress and fall asleep faster
“Breathing strongly influences physiology and thought processes, including moods,” says Dr Andrew Weil. “By simply focusing your attention on your breathing, and without doing anything to change it, you can move in the direction of relaxation.”
The 4-7-8 breath technique is utilised by yoga and meditation teachers (there are various other pranayama or breath works used in yoga to charge the oxygen in our bodies and extend our breath beyond the 10 per cent of capacity we typically breathe to).
The technique is also championed by Dr Weil.
“This exercise is a natural tranquiliser for the nervous system,” Dr Weil says. “Unlike tranquilizing drugs, which are often effective when you first take them but then lose their power over time, this exercise is subtle when you first try it but gains in power with repetition and practice. Do it at least twice a day. You cannot do it too frequently.”
Simply breathe in for four seconds, hold the breath for seven seconds and exhale completely to a count of eight. It only takes a few seconds and Dr Weil suggests repeating the technique up to four times.
Some users have said the technique helps them fall asleep within one minute.
* This article was originally written and published on http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellbeing/wellbeing/how-breathing-affects-our-brain-20161215-gtbs2j.html