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Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Getting the latest healthcare news for you
Your breath might be steering your choices. A new study published in Neuron found that deliberately slowing your breathing — especially extending the exhale — makes the brain more sensitive to rewards and nudges people toward riskier decisions. Researchers say this simple, free technique could have real-world applications for self-regulation and even clinical conditions like anxiety and depression.
Your breath might be steering your choices
A new study from researchers at the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbruecke (DIfE) and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, published in Neuron, found that deliberately slowing your breathing — particularly extending the exhale — can meaningfully shift how your brain processes decisions. Specifically, a 2:8 inhale-to-exhale ratio increased heart rate variability and boosted activity in reward-related brain regions, making participants more willing to take risks.
The effect wasn't about caring less about losses — participants still responded to potential downsides similarly. Instead, longer exhales appeared to heighten the brain's sensitivity to rewards, tipping the scales toward bolder choices. Brain imaging revealed stronger activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and precuneus, both tied to reward processing and heart rate regulation.
Key Takeaways
Why it matters: Controlled breathing is free, accessible, and easy to learn — making it a promising non-pharmacological tool for self-regulation and potentially for conditions involving disrupted reward processing, like depression and anxiety.
