Breathing Rhythm and Pattern and Their Influence on Emotion

Abstract

Breathing is a vital rhythmic motor behavior with a surprisingly broad influence on the brain and body. The apparent simplicity of breathing belies a complex neural control system, the breathing central pattern generator (bCPG), that exhibits diverse operational modes to regulate gas exchange and coordinate breathing with an array of behaviors. In this review, we focus on selected advances in our understanding of the bCPG. At the core of the bCPG is the preBötzinger complex (preBötC), which drives inspiratory rhythm via an unexpectedly sophisticated emergent mechanism. Synchronization dynamics underlying preBötC rhythmogenesis imbue the system with robustness and lability. These dynamics are modulated by inputs from throughout the brain and generate rhythmic, patterned activity that is widely distributed. The connectivity and an emerging literature support a link between breathing, emotion, and cognition that is becoming experimentally tractable. These advances bring great potential for elucidating function and dysfunction in breathing and other mammalian neural circuits. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Neuroscience, Volume 45 is July 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Inconclusive evidence that breathing shapes pupil dynamics in humans: a systematic review

“…Our main aim was to capture the effects of breathing phase, with the additional aims of describing results for breathing depth, rate and route. Based on state-of-the-art reviews [3,48] targeting the relationship between breathing and higher functions, it is easy to get the impression that the theoretical and factual link between breathing and pupil dynamics is established and well-studied. However, our systematic review, which summarizes research from more than 30 articles, spanning over 80 years of inquiry, tells a different story.…”

Respiratory rhythms of the predictive mind.

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Perspectives on the basis of seizure-induced respiratory dysfunction

“…Essential components of the respiratory circuit are located in the brainstem and include inspiratory rhythmogenic neurons in the pre-bötzinger complex (pre-bötC; Smith et al, 1991 ), neurons in the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN; Mulkey et al, 2004 ) and medullary raphe (Richerson, 2004 ; Ray et al, 2011 ) that regulate breathing in response to changes in CO 2 /H + (i.e., function as respiratory chemoreceptors), parabrachial neurons that modulate inspiratory-expiratory phase transitions and integrate chemoreceptor, visceral and arousal information between the forebrain and brainstem (Kaur and Saper, 2019 ), and respiratory motor neurons that serve as the final common output for the respiratory system (Fogarty et al, 2018 ). These respiratory centers also receive input from suprapontine regions including the insular cortex (McKay et al, 2003 ), hippocampus (Harper et al, 1998 ), and amygdala (Feinstein et al, 2022 ); in humans, stimulation of these regions results in cessation of breathing (Ochoa-Urrea et al, 2020 ), presumably to allow for voluntary and emotional control of ventilation (Bondarenko et al, 2014 ; Ashhad et al, 2022 ). Evidence also suggests communication between brainstem respiratory centers and suprapontine structures is bidirectional; ascending respiratory activity entrains cortical and limbic network oscillations that are thought to be important for emotion and memory consolidation (Herrero et al, 2018 ; Karalis and Sirota, 2022 ).…”