How breathing controls attention

To celebrate European Researcher's Night 2022, this special episode features Trinity College Dublin PhD Neuroscience candidate Ralph Andrews under the Researcher Spotlight.
Ralph’s research interests focus on the neuroscientific links between breathing and attention. Using methodologies including pupillometry and respiratory measurement, Ralph is bridging the gap between mind and body. By interrogating changes in pupil size, breath frequency, breath phase, breath correlations, and breath volume, Ralph can investigate linkages between our breathing behaviour and our performance on cognitive tasks. The importance of the breath in everyday life has been understood in eastern traditions for millennia, and Ralph’s research is scrutinising this importance using neuroscientific tools.
As a breathing enthusiast, Ralph also discusses applications of breathing research and his daily breathing practices. These include nasal breathing, resonance frequency breathing, and the notion of breathwork prescriptions.
Ralph is a member of Paul Dockree's lab in Trinity College's Institute of Neuroscience. The Dockree lab are also a member of the Predictive Brain Health Modelling (PBHM) Group. To learn more about the Dockree lab and PBHM group check out the links below.
www.tcd.ie/res...
www.predictive...
For a deeper dive into the research Ralph discusses in today’s episode, check out the links below.
Resonance Frequency Breathing tutorial
• HRV Breathing Night Mo...
Perl et al paper
Perl, O., Ravia, A., Rubinson, M. et al. Human non-olfactory cognition phase-locked with inhalation. Nat Hum Behav 3, 501-512 (2019).
doi.org/10.103...
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[@jjj6061]

amazing work!!

[@PatsPsychologyMSc]

Thanks triple J! Credit to Ralph and his colleagues in the Dockree lab, and indeed further afield

[@SnippetsCutTheBull]

Very interesting research and really well explained. I like the idea of using breath to calm down in an otherwise hectic moment

[@PatsPsychologyMSc]

Thanks Snippets, props to Ralph, he's an amazing communicator! Absolutely, what blew me away was learning that the point in the breath cycle at which an action is executed can be predictive of the action's success. Really fascinating research!