Rhythm of Breathing Affects Memory and Fear
Link: http://neurosciencenews.com/memory-fear-breathing-5699/
Summary: Scientist's from Northwestern Medicine have found that your rhythm of breathing create's electrical activity in the brain associated with enhancing your emotional judgement's and memory recall. One of the author's, Christina Zelano, stated that their biggest finding was the major difference in activity of the amygdala and hippocampus during inhalation as compared to exhalation. The scientist's first noticed these differences in brain activity during a study of several epilepsy patient's. Seven epilepsy patient's who were going in for surgery had electrode's implanted in their brain's in order for doctor's to locate the source of their seizures. These electrode's allowed the scientist's to study their brain waves and noticed that brain waves fluctuated with the individual's breathing. The activity occurred in the areas of the brain associated with emotion, memory and smell.
Their first study, aimed at understanding breathing and emotion, found that when faces with different emotional expressions were encountered participant's recognized the fearful one's quicker during inhalation rather than during exhalation. There was no such difference for face's that expressed surprise. Effect's were diminished when the participant's performed the same task while breathing through their mouth's. In their experiment aimed at memory function, participant's were shown pictures of objects on a computer and asked to remember them. They found that recall of those pictures was better during inhalation.
The finding's, according to the researcher's, could infer that rapid breathing may be an advantage when in a dangerous situation. Zelano noted that when your breathing becomes faster you spend more time inhaling therefore your body's response to fear could have a positive impact on brain function resulting in a faster response in a dangerous situation.
Reflection: This article hit on a personal note for me, a few years ago I had a pretty bad concussion. Due to the concussion my memory was effected quite a bit and learning how to cope with it was difficult. Upon reading this article and learning that being more in touch with my breathing could in fact help with my memory was an incredible find. I have been interested in yoga and meditation both of which emphasize the importance of controlling your breathing. This article could be very beneficial to those seeking ways in which to help improve their memory. I also found it quite interesting at how your breathing relates to your emotion of fear. We have just finished discussing emotion and so I thought what an interesting idea. After reading it, I found it made complete sense to me. Especially when they discussed being in fight or flight mode, our breathing begins to increase and we spend more time inhaling which in turn benefits our ability to respond quicker. I think the findings from this article should be explored even further as I believe they would be very beneficial.
Summary: Scientist's from Northwestern Medicine have found that your rhythm of breathing create's electrical activity in the brain associated with enhancing your emotional judgement's and memory recall. One of the author's, Christina Zelano, stated that their biggest finding was the major difference in activity of the amygdala and hippocampus during inhalation as compared to exhalation. The scientist's first noticed these differences in brain activity during a study of several epilepsy patient's. Seven epilepsy patient's who were going in for surgery had electrode's implanted in their brain's in order for doctor's to locate the source of their seizures. These electrode's allowed the scientist's to study their brain waves and noticed that brain waves fluctuated with the individual's breathing. The activity occurred in the areas of the brain associated with emotion, memory and smell.
Their first study, aimed at understanding breathing and emotion, found that when faces with different emotional expressions were encountered participant's recognized the fearful one's quicker during inhalation rather than during exhalation. There was no such difference for face's that expressed surprise. Effect's were diminished when the participant's performed the same task while breathing through their mouth's. In their experiment aimed at memory function, participant's were shown pictures of objects on a computer and asked to remember them. They found that recall of those pictures was better during inhalation.
The finding's, according to the researcher's, could infer that rapid breathing may be an advantage when in a dangerous situation. Zelano noted that when your breathing becomes faster you spend more time inhaling therefore your body's response to fear could have a positive impact on brain function resulting in a faster response in a dangerous situation.
Reflection: This article hit on a personal note for me, a few years ago I had a pretty bad concussion. Due to the concussion my memory was effected quite a bit and learning how to cope with it was difficult. Upon reading this article and learning that being more in touch with my breathing could in fact help with my memory was an incredible find. I have been interested in yoga and meditation both of which emphasize the importance of controlling your breathing. This article could be very beneficial to those seeking ways in which to help improve their memory. I also found it quite interesting at how your breathing relates to your emotion of fear. We have just finished discussing emotion and so I thought what an interesting idea. After reading it, I found it made complete sense to me. Especially when they discussed being in fight or flight mode, our breathing begins to increase and we spend more time inhaling which in turn benefits our ability to respond quicker. I think the findings from this article should be explored even further as I believe they would be very beneficial.
This article is wildly interesting. The brain is more readily able to identify facial emotions, activate the brain, and encode memories during the inhale phase of respiration. I'm curious if this is related to the amount of oxygen in the brain. When inhaling, the lungs receive fresh new oxygen to send into the bloodstream and therefore to the brain. This could also be related to the enhanced memory processing and cognitive functioning that occurs during exercise. In Brain Rules, the chapter on exercise detailed the benefits of increased blood flow, delivering more oxygen to the brain. The increase in oxygen that occurs briefly during inhale could be related to this theory.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be very informational, and thoughtful. It makes plenty of sense for breathing to be associate with smell, memory, and emotion, because the more we breathe the more oxygen goes into our bloodstream and brain. This simple action not only helps us stay alive, but it also helps us calm down,think clearly when in stressful situations, and push babies out in the delivery room. WIthout enough Oxygen pumping through our system damaged to our brain, organs, and liver and occur. This is why humans are meant to move around, and 30 minutes of cardio a day can increase longevity and overall health.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting. While I was reading it, I remembered how am I acting while I am at the competition and there is a moment when I feel how my heart is beating and I start to breath more often and my facial expression changes for focus and anger. However I remember everything that my coach said earlier and I am able to visual the perfect performance. Even the monks have practiced and concentrated on the breathing and they are assure that it is the key for their body and their minds through the meditation.
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