Sunday, December 25, 2016

"Rhythm of breathing affects memory and fear"

In the study, individuals were able to identify a fearful face more quickly if they encountered the face when breathing in compared to breathing out. Individuals also were more likely to remember an object if they encountered it on the inhaled breath than the exhaled one. The effect disappeared if breathing was through the mouth.

“One of the major findings in this study is that there is a dramatic difference in brain activity in the amygdala and hippocampus during inhalation compared with exhalation,” said lead author Christina Zelano, assistant professor of neurology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “When you breathe in, we discovered you are stimulating neurons in the olfactory cortex, amygdala and hippocampus, all across the limbic system.”

The study was published Dec. 6 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The senior author is Jay Gottfried, professor of neurology at Feinberg.

Via Reddit: read the whole thing here: https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2016/12/rhythm-of-breathing-affects-memory-and-fear/

10 comments:

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I picture the hippocampus as a place ruled by Belushi.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Reading Fisher's hospital updates has brought Belushi to mind.

AllenS said...

I inhale, because I'm afraid of dying, if I don't.

ndspinelli said...

All of this attention paid to global warming should be redirected to studying the brain. There lies the key to our future.

john said...

We need a mouth breather joke here.

Also, Merry Christmas to all the Lemurs!

John

deborah said...

Your tax dollars at work.

Merry Christmas, John!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Merry Christmas John.

Allen S. ๐Ÿ˜†

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Remember when you get the blues, you are just not breathing right ๐Ÿ˜‰

deborah said...

True, Lem. A lot of the positive effects of mediation are connected to proper breathing. If I could just remember to breathe properly I'd be a lot more positive :)

ken in tx said...

I have noticed that when I have blocked sinus cavities, my memory is greatly impaired and it is hard to concentrate.