If the brain can be changed by conscious manipulation of respiration, a neuroscientist observes the electrode in the brain

byNine Köpfer

Basically the breathingBrainstemIt affects heartbeat and sleeping automatically controlled by humans, but humans can consciously change breathing. Many animals do not have the ability to "spontaneously change the pace of respiration", so why humans can change their breath with will will remain unclear as of 2017. Research on human breathing method and brain involvement has been carried out so far, but in the newly conducted research, it is not a brain scan but a method called "to directly observe changes by accessing the brain" Was taken.

ARTICLES | Journal of Neurophysiology
http://jn.physiology.org/content/early/2017/09/22/jn.00551.2017

Neuroscientists have identified how exactly a deep breath changes your mind - Quartz
https://qz.com/1132986/neuroscientists-have-identified-how-exactly-a-deep-breath-changes-your-mind/

In the US Navy's special troops "Navy SEALs" breathing method calming the mind "Box Breathing"The breath control is used to cope with stress and increase concentration etc., for example.

Breathing method "Box Breathing" to relieve stress, Adopted Navy SEALs of US Navy special forces - GIGAZINE


So, how does breathing actually affect the brain? Jose Herrero, a doctoral researcher at Columbia University, and Ashesh Mehta, a neurosurgeon at the North Shore University Hospital, studied that.

The research team first placed the subjects in two situations where they were not conscious of breathing, namely "not doing anything" and "when clicking the circle that appeared on the computer screen", and the state of each brain Observe. After that, when the subjects were instructed to "increase the pace of respiration and count the respiration rate", activation in the brain was found to be different from the normal part. At this time, the part of the brain that was activated by "spontaneously raising the pace of breathing" and "when the pace of breathing unexpectedly rises" also seems to be a different part although there was an overlap .

The results of this study support neuroscience on advice that breathing exercises are effective when you want to concentrate or deal with stress. By controlling breathing and giving consciousness to breathing, it is possible to access parts of the brain that are difficult to access normally, and synchronize multiple parts. As a result, this results in control of emotion and upward concentration.

In brain science research generallyfMRIYaElectroencephalogramAlthough the technique called scanning is adopted, this research is unique in that electrodes are embedded in the human brain and observed directly in the brain. With the method using electrodes, you can directly observe how you can think, decide, and imagine by the workings of the brain. Experimental subjects used electrodes as part of the treatment of epilepsy, and this opportunity was used to investigate the relationship between breathing and the brain.

byMassimo Barbieri

Although the movement of the brain can not be manipulated generally by the will of the person, since it can access the work of the brain by using breathing, it is a fact that the advice by the custom such as "deep breath when being nervous" was not wrong this time Research indicated. Researchers are planning to continue their research in order to access the parts of the brain, which are usually unlikely to be revealed.