Sunday, May 14, 2017

How deep breaths help with relaxation -- Interview by Kevin Yackle!

The one advice for relaxation is to take deep breaths. Yoga practitioners and doctors alike give this age-old advice. But how does our body connect breathing with calmness? Or is this a placebo effect??

Kevin and colleagues wanted to understand the biological connection between breathing and relaxation. For this, they targeted a specific region in the brain that is involved in controlling breathing. They killed a small region within this special area. Surprisingly, and fortunately, the animal's breathing did not stop. But it was slower, and was connected to the animal being calm under normal conditions! This showed a link between deep, slow breaths and a relaxed state of mind. To know more, please listen to Kevin.



For more information, please refer:
Breathing control center neurons that promote arousal in mice
Yackle et al., Science, 2017

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