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Sighs Shape Respiratory Variability and Pupil Dynamics and Adapt to Sustained Attention Demands
Ralph W G Andrews1, Michael C Melnychuk1, Paul M Dockree1
1Trinity Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN), Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
Psychophysiology
|January 23, 2026
Summary
Sighs, or spontaneous deep breaths, help regulate breathing patterns and arousal during cognitive tasks. They are linked to respiratory variability and pupil changes, but not task performance.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Respiratory Physiology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Sighs are spontaneous deep breaths crucial for respiratory control.
- Their connection to respiratory variability is known, but links to cognitive engagement, performance, and arousal are unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate sigh behavior during sustained attention tasks.
- Examine the relationship between sighs, respiratory variability, and arousal.
Main Methods:
- Respiratory belt recordings were used during two attention tasks (Gradual Contrast Change Detection and Paced Auditory Cue Entrainment).
- Sighs were defined as breaths with inspiratory volume at least twice the mean.
- Respiratory rate and inspiratory volume variability (CV and AR) were analyzed, along with pupil diameter changes.
Main Results:
- Sigh frequency correlated positively with overall respiratory variability and negatively with its structure in spontaneous breathing.
- Sigh frequency and variability increased over task duration; sighs reset temporal respiratory structure.
- Sighs were linked to pupil diameter changes, suggesting arousal system involvement, but not task performance or engagement.
Conclusions:
- Sighs play a role in regulating respiratory variability and phase-locking during cognitive tasks.
- Sighs are associated with arousal mechanisms, independent of task performance.
- Task dynamics influence sigh behavior and respiratory variability.
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