Functional Correlation between Breathing and Emotional States

Abstract

Breathing changes in response to emotional states, such as sadness, happiness, anxiety or fear. On the other hand, emotional states change the pattern, rate and depth of breathing. A complex coordination, not yet fully understood, involving widely dispersed brain centers in the cerebral cortex, limbic system, medullary and pontine areas, together control the correlation between breathing and emotion. This intricate correlation between breathing and emotion is essential to synchronize metabolism, energetics and other physiological parameters of homeostasis with changes in the environment. Adept correlation of breathing with emotional states not only maintains homeostasis but is also essential for survival. IntroductionAlmost everyone is intuitively aware of a connection between breathing and emotion. We know that when we are agitated and anxious our breath is rapid and shallow and when we're relaxed and content our breath is slow and deep. We might be somewhat less aware, however that when we compel our breath to be rapid and shallow we become agitated and anxious and when we compel our breath to be slow and deep we promote relaxation and contentment. Breathing is the only essential physiological function that is both under voluntary and involuntary control. For example, the heart needs to beat for us to live but we cannot increase or decrease our heart rate at will. Breathing on the other hand is more amenable to conscious regulation.Three areas of the brain regulate breathing and respiration. Here, breathing is defined as the physiological process of inhalation and exhalation that carries oxygen laden air into the alveoli of the lungs and expels carbon dioxide laden air into the atmosphere, whereas respiration is defined as the cellular metabolism process of oxygen transfer and the combustion of high energy biomolecules that maintains homeostasis. Widely dispersed centers located in the brainstem, the limbic system and the cerebral cortex regulate breathing and respiration. The regulation of breath by the brain stem is largely unconscious and serves to maintain homeostasis whereas the regulation of breath by the limbic system generates emotional repercussions, while the higher cognitive centers of the cerebral cortex exert voluntary and intentional control on breathing. Effect of emotion on breathingNeuroscientists have been using braining imaging studies to understand anatomical signatures for emotional states [1-6], establishing the brain regions that are activated in synchrony in a given emotion or mood. Emotions generate not only brain signatures but also body (somatic) signatures in the form of responses in the peripheral nervous system and behavioral expression. Emotion changes heart rate, blood pressure, skin conductance and breathing [7], largely unconsciously.Animal model studies have revealed detailed mechanisms underlying the neural control of breathing and the coordination of emotion and breathing. For example, sighs, that are long deep breaths and express sadness, relief or exhaustion are r...

Uniting Contemplative Theory and Scientific Investigation: Toward a Comprehensive Model of the Mind

“…This seems incongruously over-simplified-reducing the body to nothing but the breath to explain the effects of jhāna. Yet, the in-out breath has been linked to the autonomic nervous system (Tang et al, 2009;Telles et al, 2013;Zaccaro et al, 2018), with deep slow relaxed breathing known to influence autonomic and pain processing (Busch et al, 2012), emotional regulation (Sarkar, 2017), and the activation of both sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems (Busch et al, 2012;Jerath et al, 2006;Sinha et al, 2020). Zest and happiness may therefore be somewhat intuitively related to regulation of the autonomic nervous system followed by activation of the somatosensory and parasympathetic components of the peripheral nervous system.…”