A recent study revealed that deliberately controlling breathing rhythm can influence decision-making, by producing changes in heart and brain activity.
اضافة اعلان
Researchers from the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) in Potsdam-Rehbrücke and Charité University Hospital in Berlin found that extending exhalation duration increases heart rate variability and enhances the brain's response to potential rewards, pushing individuals toward bolder choices, according to what Al Arabiya.net published, citing Science Daily.
Fast breathing and elevated heart rate are usually associated with quick decision-making, while people under pressure and stress tend to be more cautious to avoid losses. In contrast, slower breathing and a calmer physical state help evaluate potential outcomes more positively, which may increase willingness to take risks.
The Relationship Between Body and Brain
Decision-making has long been regarded as an activity based primarily on the brain, but this new study started from a different hypothesis: that signals coming from other organs in the body can influence brain activity, and therefore the decisions individuals make.
The study was led by Professor Soyoung Q. Park, head of the Neuroscience, Decision Making, and Nutrition department at DIfE, with the participation of researchers from several scientific institutions, including the Neuroscience Research Center at Charité University Hospital in Berlin, the Free University of Berlin, and the German Institute of Marine Medicine.
Park explained that decisions are not built on external information alone, but are shaped by the interaction of cognitive processes with an individual's current physical state. She added that the study aimed to test whether it was possible to produce physiological changes, through guided breathing, that could influence the quality of decisions made.
Testing the Effect of Prolonged Exhalation
The study included 41 healthy volunteers who were asked to make decisions involving a degree of risk under different breathing patterns. Participants followed visual breathing instructions, breathing either at their natural pace or according to a slower pattern based on prolonging exhalation relative to inhalation at a ratio of 2 to 8.
During the trials, researchers monitored a wide range of physical and neural indicators, using functional MRI to track brain activity, alongside tracking breathing patterns, heart rate, skin conductance, and pupil responses.
This approach allowed researchers to study whether prolonging exhalation produced effects beyond simply lowering heart rate, and whether it directly affected how the brain processes potential rewards.
Increased Tendency Toward Rewards
The results showed that prolonging exhalation slowed heart rate and was linked to bolder, riskier decision making. It was also found that this effect resulted mainly from an increased focus on potential rewards, not from a reduced sensitivity to losses.
Researchers also observed greater activity in brain regions associated with reward processing and regulating the relationship between heartbeats, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the precuneus region, both of which are also linked to heart rate variability.
Promising Practical Applications
The study's findings support a growing research trend focused on the mutual relationship between body and brain, and indicate that physical state can directly influence cognitive processes and decision making.
Researchers believe that breath control represents a simple, low cost, and easily learned tool, making it a potential means of enhancing self control in daily life. It may also open the door to using it as a non pharmacological supportive tool in dealing with certain psychological disorders, such as anxiety and depression, which are sometimes linked to dysfunction in self regulation and reward response.
