It Is True. Taking A Deep Breath Changes Your Brain, For The Better

It seems the age-old advice to take a deep breath when stressed is not too way off the mark. New research based on recordings made from within the brains of those undergoing surgery points to a strong link between deep breathing and changes in brain activity in the Hippocampus and Insula — both regions that are majorly connected to our emotions and higher forms of cognition.

Since breathing has been traditionally thought to be an automated process controlled by the brain stem, not much is known about ‘controlled breathing’ that only human beings are capable of doing; though there is compelling evidence that it aids our physical well-being. Animals cannot alter their breathing of their own volition — it changes reflexively in response to fear, running, sleeping, etc. But because we have the ability to take control of our breathing, researchers began to attempt to separate the modes that manage controlled and automatic breathing in the brain to better understand the links.

This is important research for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, an understanding of the synchronisation of various parts of the brain while breathing may lead us to devise better ways to reduce anxiety and stress levels and better our emotional control. This kind of unique neural research, where scientists were actually ‘reading’ the brain of alert and awake humans, provides solid scientific backing to belief in the benefits of breath control shared by a variety of professions — think anxiety therapists, yoga practitioners and sports professionals.

A note of caution, though. We have to remember here that this research, however exciting, is still in its preliminary stages. Scientists famously call our brains the last frontier of science; discovering how deep the connections are between breathing and cognition is a good place to begin the exploration.