Perception of exercise-induced dyspnea after experimentally induced breathing discomfort

The perception of dyspnea is influenced by both physiological and psychological factors. We sought to determine whether exertional dyspnea perception could be experimentally manipulated through prior exposure to heightened dyspnea while exercising. We hypothesized that dyspnea perception during exercise would be lower following an induced dyspnea task (IDT). Sixteen healthy participants (eight females, eight males) completed two days of exercise testing. Day 1 involved an incremental cycle exercise test starting at 40 W for females and 60 W for males, increasing by 20 W each minute until volitional exhaustion. Following the maximal exercise test on Day 1, participants completed IDT, involving 5 min of exercise at 70% of peak work rate with 500 mL dead space and external resistance (i.e., 6.8 ± 2.3 cm·H₂O·s^-1·L^-1 inspiration, 3.8 ± 0.7 cm·H₂O·s^-1·L^-1 expiration). Day 2 consisted of an incremental exercise test identical to Day 1. At maximal exercise, there were no differences in oxygen uptake (V̇O₂; 44.7 ± 7.7 vs. 46.5 ± 6.3 mL·kg^-1·min^-1), minute ventilation (120 ± 35 vs. 127 ± 38 L·min^-1), dyspnea (6.5 [4, 8.5] vs. 6 [4.25, 8.75]), or leg discomfort (6 [5, 8.75] vs. 7 [5, 9]) between days (all p > 0.05). At 60%-80% of peak V̇O₂ (V̇O_2peak), dyspnea was significantly lower on Day 2 (-0.75 [-1.375, 0] for 60% and -0.5 [0, -2] for 80%, p < 0.05) despite no differences in relevant physiological variables. The onset of perceived dyspnea occurred at a significantly higher exercise intensity on Day 2 than on Day 1 (42% ± 19% vs. 51% ± 17% V̇O_2peak, respectively; p < 0.05). Except for 40% V̇O_2peak (p = 0.05), RPE-L was not different at any intensities nor was the onset of perceived leg discomfort different between days (38% ± 14% vs. 43% ± 10% V̇O_2peak, respectively; p = 0.10). Exposure to heightened dyspnea alters exercise-induced dyspnea perception during subsequent submaximal exercise bouts.