How Slow Breathing May Influence Heart Activity, Brain Function and Risky Decisions

New research suggests that intentionally changing the rhythm of your breathing may influence both heart and brain activity—and potentially affect how you make decisions. Researchers from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE) and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin found that longer exhalations increased heart rate variability and made the brain more responsive to potential rewards. This physiological response was associated with a greater willingness to make riskier choices.

The findings offer new insight into the connection between breathing, cardiovascular activity and decision-making. They also suggest that breathing exercises could become a simple, low-cost tool for supporting emotional and cognitive self-regulation.

Breathing, stress and decision-making

Fast breathing and an elevated heart rate are often linked to stress and rapid decision-making. When people feel pressured, they may become more cautious and focus more strongly on avoiding losses. This can affect everyday choices, including financial decisions, workplace interactions and food selection.

By contrast, slower breathing and a calmer cardiovascular state may encourage people to evaluate potential rewards more positively. As a result, they may become more open to taking calculated risks.

How breathing connects the body and brain

Decision-making has traditionally been viewed as a process controlled primarily by the brain. However, researchers are increasingly studying how signals from the body—including the heart, lungs and nervous system—can influence brain activity and behavior.

The study was led by Professor Soyoung Q. Park in collaboration with researchers from the Center for Neuroscience Research at Charité, Freie Universität Berlin and the German Naval Institute for Marine Medicine.

“Our decisions are rarely determined solely by external information. Rather, our judgments emerge from the interaction between cognitive processes and our current physical state,” said Professor Soyoung Q. Park, Head of Decision Neuroscience and Nutrition at DIfE.

“Until now, it was unclear how conscious modulation of the body—for example, through targeted breathing—could actively influence decision-making. We wanted to use slow breathing patterns to create physiological changes and examine whether they altered the quality of people’s decisions.”

Can longer exhalations change decision-making?

Researchers studied 41 healthy participants while they made decisions involving potential risks and rewards under carefully controlled breathing conditions. Participants followed visual breathing instructions and either maintained their normal breathing pace or slowed their breathing while extending the exhalation phase.

During the slower breathing condition, participants followed an inhalation-to-exhalation ratio of 2:8, meaning that exhalation lasted considerably longer than inhalation.

While participants completed a series of risk-related tasks, researchers measured several physical and neurological responses, including:

• Brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging
• Breathing patterns
• Heart activity and heart rate variability
• Skin conductance
• Pupil responses

This combination of measurements allowed the research team to determine whether longer exhalations did more than simply lower heart rate. The researchers also examined whether breathing patterns changed the way the brain processed potential rewards and losses.

Longer exhalations were linked to greater focus on rewards

The results showed that longer exhalations lowered participants’ heart rates and were associated with riskier choices. However, the researchers found that participants did not appear to become less sensitive to potential losses. Instead, their decisions seemed to reflect greater attention to possible rewards.

Brain scans also revealed stronger activity in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the precuneus. These areas of the brain are involved in evaluating rewards, making decisions and integrating information about the body. The findings were also associated with heart rate variability, which refers to natural changes in the time between individual heartbeats.

“Our study highlights the important role of breathing-based interventions. The interaction between breathing and cardiac dynamics may make the brain more receptive to rewards,” said first author Wenhao Huang.

What the findings mean for breathing exercises

The study contributes to growing research on body-brain communication and supports the neurovisceral model. This model proposes that a person’s physical and autonomic state can influence cognitive processes, emotional responses and behavior.

Breathing exercises have been used for thousands of years in religious, cultural and wellness practices. According to the researchers, the findings provide scientific evidence that controlled breathing may offer a practical way to influence physiological states linked to decision-making.

Breath control is inexpensive, accessible and relatively easy to learn. It could potentially be used as an everyday self-regulation technique or as a supportive, non-pharmacological approach in clinical settings.

The researchers noted that breathing-based interventions may be particularly relevant for conditions such as anxiety and depression, which can involve changes in autonomic nervous system regulation and reward processing. More research is needed before breathing techniques can be recommended as a treatment for these conditions.

Could breathing influence eating behavior?

Future studies will need to determine whether the findings apply to larger and more diverse populations, including people who are overweight or living with health conditions that affect decision-making.

The researchers are especially interested in whether controlled breathing could influence eating behavior. Food choices are shaped by reward expectations, emotional state and physical signals from the body. This raises the possibility that targeted breathing techniques could help people recognize and manage eating-related decisions more consciously.

“Because eating decisions are strongly influenced by reward evaluations and physical state, targeted respiratory regulation may also help people recognize and manage eating behaviors more effectively,” Professor Park said.

The research was supported by the Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space; the Brandenburg Ministry of Science, Research and Culture; and grants associated with the DecEnt Project, the German Center for Mental Health and the German Center for Diabetes Research. Ignacio Revollo was supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action BRAINSTOM project.

Source: www.sciencedaily.com