Effects of Short-Term Breathwork on Respiration and Cognitive Performance in a Discrimination Task

Respiration is a unique physiological process that can operate automatically but can also be deliberately used to modulate the bodily state. Importantly, respiration is deeply intertwined with neural processes, influencing functions from arousal and attention to executive control. Although structured respiration (breathing practice) has been exploited for centuries, the immediate consequences of short periods of structured respiration for sensation and cognition remain poorly understood. The present explorative study examined how brief, 1-min episodes of structured respiration affect respiration and performance in a subsequent sensory-cognitive task. Across two experiments, participants engaged in structured breathing practices that manipulated either respiratory frequency (slow breathing vs. fast breathing) or the inhalation-exhalation ratio (short inspiration-long expiration and long inspiration-short expiration) prior to performing a visual emotion discrimination task. Immediately after breathing practice, participants' respiration deviated from their baseline: Each technique resulted in specific deviations of respiratory frequency, inhalation-exhalation ratio, or the occurrence of atypical respiratory cycles, suggesting technique-specific returns to regular respiration. During the subsequent discrimination task response accuracy and reaction times did not differ between breathing practices. However, we observed transient changes in reaction times immediately following all practices, suggesting a brief facilitation of attentional or sensorimotor responsiveness following conscious breathing. Our findings indicate that even brief, consciously controlled respiration can transiently influence cognitive performance, highlighting the role of voluntary respiratory modulation in shaping brain function and behavior.