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breathing

Featured Neurology Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·April 13, 2025·6 min read

Breathing Syncs with Pupil Size, Revealing a New Mind-Body Link

A groundbreaking study has revealed that our pupils change size in sync with our breathing—a response now dubbed the "pupillary respiratory phase response." Researchers confirmed that pupils are smallest around the start of inhalation and largest during exhalation, regardless of lighting, focus, or cognitive effort.

Featured Neuroscience Visual Neuroscience

·February 21, 2025·4 min read

Every Breath You Take Alters Your Visual Perception

Researchers have discovered that breathing affects pupil size, with the pupil being smallest during inhalation and largest during exhalation. This newly identified mechanism is independent of external stimuli and could influence vision by alternating between detail enhancement and object detection.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 17, 2024·4 min read

Breathing Rhythms During Sleep Strengthen Memory Consolidation

New research shows that breathing rhythms during sleep synchronize brain waves in the hippocampus, a region essential for memory consolidation. These brain waves—slow waves, spindles, and ripples—occur at specific points in the breathing cycle, suggesting breathing plays a key role in memory processing.

Featured Neuroscience

·November 19, 2024·6 min read

Breath and Emotion Connected by Newly Identified Brain Circuit

Researchers have identified a specific brain circuit that allows voluntary control of breathing, linking it to emotional and behavioral states. This circuit, spanning the anterior cingulate cortex, pons, and medulla, slows breathing during calm states and accelerates it under anxiety. Experiments in mice showed activating this circuit reduced anxiety, while shutting it off increased stress.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 12, 2024·5 min read

The Brain’s Role in Syncing Heart and Breath

New research reveals how the human brain processes vital signals from the heart and lungs, offering new insights into the complex brain-body integration essential for health and cognition. The study identifies specific neurons in the thalamus that play a crucial role in integrating cardio-respiratory information, providing a deeper understanding of the functional pathways connecting internal organs to brain health. By employing microelectrode recordings during deep brain stimulation surgery, the researchers discovered that a significant proportion of neurons are responsive to cardiac and respiratory rhythms, highlighting the brain's intricate mechanism for maintaining homeostasis.

Featured Neuroscience

·March 7, 2024·5 min read

Brain Circuit Balances Speech and Breath

Researchers identified a brain circuit that harmonizes vocalization with breathing, ensuring that speech occurs predominantly during exhalation. This circuit, which regulates the larynx's narrowing and the act of exhaling, is under the influence of a brainstem area responsible for the breathing rhythm.

Featured Neuroscience

·January 26, 2024·6 min read

Breathing’s Crucial Role in Memory Enhancement During Sleep

A new study uncovered a crucial link between breathing and the consolidation of memories during sleep. Through a detailed analysis of EEG and respiratory patterns in human participants, the researchers discovered that peaks in inhalation are closely associated with an increase in slow oscillations and spindle activity in the brain. These specific brain rhythms are known to play a critical role in the process of memory consolidation.

Featured Neuroscience

·December 18, 2023·3 min read

Breathing Is The Key to Memory Consolidation During Sleep

Researchers unveiled a critical link between breathing and memory consolidation during sleep. In an extensive study involving EEG and breathing analysis, they discovered that specific sleep-related brain rhythms are directly influenced by our breathing patterns.

Featured Neuroscience Open Neuroscience Articles Psychology

·November 12, 2022·4 min read

Breathing May Measurably Modulate Neural Responses Across Brain

Study reveals a potential link between respiration and neural activity changes in animal models.

Featured Neuroscience Psychology

·November 8, 2022·4 min read

How Breathing Shapes Our Brain

Breathing isn't only essential to keep us alive, it also impacts our emotions, attention, and how our brains process the world around us.

Featured Neuroscience

·September 2, 2022·3 min read

When Humans Gesture, They Activate an Ancient Connection Between Movement and Breathing

A new study sheds light on why humans often use hand movements while talking. Researchers report rhythmic hand gestures affect rib cage movements, leading to a change in lung volume and ultimately aspects of the voice. Infants connect early vocal babbling with hand gestures, demonstrating an early connection between movement and vocal production.

Featured Neurology Neuroscience

·August 27, 2022·5 min read

Artificial Intelligence Model Can Detect Parkinson’s From Breathing Patterns

A newly developed artificial intelligence model can detect Parkinson's disease by reading a person's breathing patterns. The algorithm can also discern the severity of Parkinson's disease and track progression over time.