A new study suggests that deliberately changing the rhythm of your breathing can influence how you make decisions by altering activity in both the heart and brain. 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 rewards, which was associated with bolder choices. The findings were published in Neuron.
Fast breathing and an elevated heart rate are often linked with rapid decision-making. Under pressure, people may become more cautious in an effort to avoid losses, whether they are making an investment, handling a tense workplace situation, or choosing a meal quickly. Slower breathing and a calmer cardiovascular state, by contrast, may encourage a more positive assessment of potential outcomes and make people more willing to take risks.
How Breathing Connects the Body and Brain Decision-making has traditionally been viewed as a process centered mainly in the brain. The new research examined a broader possibility: that signals from other parts of the body can change brain activity and influence the choices people make. The study was led by Prof.
Soyoung Q Park in collaboration with researchers from institutions including the Neuroscience Research Center at Charité -- Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, and the German Naval Institute of Maritime Medicine. "Our decisions are rarely determined solely by external information. Rather, our judgment emerges from the interplay between cognitive processes and our current bodily state.
It was previously unknown how the conscious regulation of our body, for example through targeted breathing, could actively control our decision-making process. We wanted to create a physiological shift using a slow breathing pattern to change the quality of our decisions," explains Soyoung Q Park, head of the Department of Decision Neuroscience and Nutrition at DIfE, summarizing the research question. Testing Whether Longer Exhales Change Decisions The researchers studied 41 healthy participants while they made risky choices under carefully controlled breathing conditions.
Participants followed visual breathing instructions and either breathed at their normal individual pace or slowed their breathing while extending the exhalation phase (2:8 inhale-exhale ratio). As the participants completed a series of risk-related decisions, the research team measured several aspects of their physical and neurological responses. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to track brain activity, while breathing patterns, heart activity, skin conductance, and pupil responses were monitored at the same time.
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