Sigh rate and respiratory variability during normal breathing and the role of negative affectivity

Abstract

Spontaneous breathing was measured in healthy persons scoring either high (N=45) or low (N=30) on trait negative affectivity (NA), during a 10 min period of quiet sitting using the LifeShirt System®. Sighing and respiratory variability before and after sighs were assessed. Total respiratory variability of minute ventilation was indexed by the coefficient of variation and structured (correlated) variability was quantified by the autocorrelation. Total variability was higher before a sigh than before a non-sigh, without concomitant differences in structured variability, suggesting more random variability before a sigh. After a sigh, correlated variability increased whereas it remained the same after a non-sigh. Thus sighing acted as a resetter of the respiratory system. However, when comparing the low and the high NA group, this pattern was specific for high NA individuals. We conclude that it is important to take into account individual difference variables when studying the psychophysiological functions of sighing.

Respiratory dysrhythmia in dementia with Lewy bodies: a cross-sectional study

“…The CV for breath-to-breath time in patients without dementia was not significantly different from that reported in previous studies of control patients 19 20. Although the complication with hypertension was greater in AD group than in DLB group, no significant differences were found in the measures of breathing patterns between patients with hypertension and the patients without hypertension (data not shown).…”

The Integrative Role of the Sigh in Psychology, Physiology, Pathology, and Neurobiology

“…Based on a series of fascinating human psychophysiological studies, Vlemincx and coworkers (Vlemincx et al, 2010b, 2013a; Wuyts et al, 2011) proposed the intriguing hypothesis that the sigh acts as a psychophysiological mechanism that resets eupneic breathing variability associated with different psychological states. Indeed, a high degree of breathing variability is normal (Donaldson, 1992; Mangin et al, 2011; Small et al, 1999; Tobin et al, 1995; Wuyts et al, 2011; Wysocki et al, 2006). This variability is adaptive as it allows the respiratory network to sensitively react to changes in environmental and behavioral demands (Wuyts et al, 2011).…”

Sighing in Interaction: Somatic, Semiotic, and Social

“…Researchers in physiology describe sighs as important for maintaining respiratory homeostasis and restoring healthy levels of respiratory variability (Cherniack, Glowgowska, & Homma, 1981). The psychological literature links these respiratory effects to both aversive (Wuyts, Vlemincx, Bogaerts, Van Diest, & Van den Bergh, 2011) and positive psychological states (Hirose, 2000). These findings suggest that the physiological and psychological functions of sighing are intertwined, for if sighing acts as a physiological resetter of respiratory states, it is reasonable to assume it also restores psychological comfort.…”