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Nasal airflow promotes default mode network activity.

M. Salimi, Fahime Ayene, Tannaz Parsazadegan, Milad Nazari, Y. Jamali, M. R. Raoufy

Respiratory Physiology & Neurobiology October 1, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2022.103981 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Within-subject experimental EEG study Peer reviewed
Sample size 16
Population Healthy adults
Interventions Nasal breathing oral breathing nasal air-puff
Duration Three successive sessions
Measures EEG power spectral density, EEG connectivity
Topics Default mode network
Key findings Nasal airflow, whether from nasal breathing or nasal air-puffs during oral breathing, enhanced power and connectivity in default mode network and somatosensory regions, particularly in gamma frequency bands, and these effects occurred even without attention to the nasal stimulus. The authors argue that nasal airflow promotes brain oscillations important for higher brain functions.

Abstract

Background: AND OBJECTIVES Default mode network (DMN) is a principal network that is more active at the baseline functional state of consciousness and spontaneous brain activity. Nasal breathing beyond the oxygen supply, entrained brain oscillations in widespread brain regions. Consistent with the important role of nasal breathing on neural oscillation for brain function, here we aimed to evaluate respiration entrained DMN rhythms.

Materials and Methods: Using electroencephalography (EEG), we assessed the power spectral density and connectivity in DMN during the resting state among a group of sixteen healthy during three successive sessions. In addition to DMN, synchrony of the signal over the widespread cortical regions including somatosensory areas was investigated. Signal acquisition sessions consist of three times including nasal breathing, oral breathing, and nasal air-puff state that odorless air was puffed using a nasal cannula via an electrical valve (open duration of 630 ms) with a frequency of 0.2 Hz while subjects spontaneously breath orally.

Results: Our analyses demonstrated that nasal airflow, during both nasal breathing and nasal air-puff states, enhanced the power and connectivity of DMN regions specially at higher frequency bands, particularly gamma ranges. Enhancement in brain areas activity and connectivity including DMN and somatosensory due to the nasal airflow were not affected even in the condition that subjects were not attending to the nasal air-puff.

Conclusions: Nasal airflow promotes brain oscillations, particularly at the range of gamma that is very essential for higher brain functions.

Comparable studies

Other experimental studies on default mode network, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
Functional connectivity of default mode network components: Correlation, anticorrelation, and causality Healthy subjects 2008 Observational study using resting-state fMRI and seed correlation analysis
Patterns of Brain Activity Supporting Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, and Theory of Mind, and Their Relationship to the Default Mode Network Healthy subjects 2009 Experimental study using fMRI
Dynamic reconfiguration of the default mode network during narrative comprehension Human subjects 2016 Experimental study
Broadband Cortical Desynchronization Underlies the Human Psychedelic State Healthy human participants 2013 Experimental study
The brain on art: intense aesthetic experience activates the default mode network Human observers 2012 Observational study with fMRI and behavioral analysis

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Default mode network Breathwork