4/7/2017 Meditation'sCalmingEffectsPinpointedinBrainScientificAmerican

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Meditation'sCalmingEffectsPinpointedinBrain
Anewmousestudyrevealsasetofneuronsthatmaypointtophysiologicalrootsforthecalming
effectsofbreathingcontrol

By Diana Kwon on March 30, 2017

Credit: David Sacks Getty Images

Duringyogapranayamaexercisespeoplepracticecontrollingthebreath,orprana,to
induceastateofcalmandfocus.Payingattentiontobreathingandslowingdown
respirationisacorecomponentofmanymindfulnesspractices.Researchsuggests

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meditationscalmingeffectspinpointedinbrain/ 1/10
4/7/2017 Meditation'sCalmingEffectsPinpointedinBrainScientificAmerican

thepracticehasmultiplebenefitsitinducesanoverallsenseofwellbeingwhile
reducinganxietyandimprovedsleep.

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Butwhatexactlyisgoingoninthebrainduringmeditation?Imagingstudiesof
humanshaveshownbrainregionsinvolvedinmindwandering,attentionand
emotionareinvolvedinvariousstagesofmindfulnesspractice.Anewmousestudy,
publishedThursdayinScience,showsthatneuronsinthebrainstemmayalso
mediatethelinkbetweenbreathingandinducingastateofmeditativecalm.

PACINGBREATHS

Thebasisforthenewstudydatesbackto1991,whenagroupofneuroscientistsatthe
UniversityofCalifornia,LosAngeles,(U.C.L.A.)discoveredthepreBtzinger
complex,anareacontainingneuronsthatfiredrhythmicallyintimewitheachbreath.
Quitedifferentfromthecardiacpacemaker,thebreathingpacemakerhasawhole
varietyofdifferentrhythmsforexample,ayawnorasighoragasp,saysstudyco
authorMarkKrasnow,abiochemistryprofessoratStanfordUniversity.Ratherthan
simplyprovidingairtoyourlungs,thesetypesofbreathsarealsoassociatedwith
socialandemotionalsignals.

RecentevidencesuggeststhepreBtzingercomplexcancontrolavarietyof
breathingbehaviors.InastudypublishedlastyearinNature,Krasnowandhis
colleaguesreportedonasubsetofneuronswithinthisbrainregionthatissolely
responsibleforgeneratingsighs.Whentheresearchersstimulatedtheseneuronsin
mice,theysighedcontinuously.Butwhentheteamremovedthosenervecells,the
animalskeptbreathing,neversighing.Now,theteamhasuncoveredaseparategroup
ofneuronsinthisareathatappeartohaveanotherspecificfunction:regulatingstates
ofcalmandarousal.

Krasnowsteamgeneticallyengineeredmicetoremoveaspecificsubsetofneurons
thatcontainstwogenes:cadherin9(Cdh9),agenethatisexpressedinthepre
Btzingercomplex,anddevelopingbrainhomeoboxprotein1(Dbx1),whichprior
studieshaddemonstratedarenecessaryforrespirationwithoutit,micedonot
breathe.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meditationscalmingeffectspinpointedinbrain/ 2/10
4/7/2017 Meditation'sCalmingEffectsPinpointedinBrainScientificAmerican

WhentheteamremovedtheseCdh9/Dbx1neuronsfrommice,theanimalsstill
breathednormallywithoneslightdifference:breathscamemoreslowlythanin
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normalmice.Therodentswerealsounusuallycalmtheyspentlesstimeexploring
theirsurroundingsandmoretimesittingstill.Weweretotallysurprised,saysstudy
coauthorKevinYackle,aprofessorattheUniversityofCalifornia,SanFrancisco,
whoconductedthestudywhilehewasapostdocatStanford.Itcertainlywasnt
somethingweexpectedtofind.

Theresearchersalsodiscoveredtheseneuronsformconnectionswiththelocus
coeruleus,anotherareainthebrainsteminvolvedinmodulatingarousaland
emotion.[One]thingthatsinterestingaboutthis,andsurprising,isthatthissmall
groupofneuronsisnotinvolvedinproducingtheinspiratoryrhythmperse,says
JeffreySmith,aneuroscientistattheNationalInstituteofNeurologicalDisordersand
Stroke,whowasnotinvolvedinthestudy.Smith,alongwithoneofthecurrent
studyscoauthors,neurobiologistJackFeldmanatU.C.L.A.,discoveredthepre
Btzingercomplex.Itsnowbecomingapparentthattheresalotofstructuraland
functionalcomplexitytothepreBtzingercomplexitselfthatwehadntreally
anticipated.

CREATINGCALM

Evidencefromhumanresearchalsosuggestsmeditationandrespirationareclosely
connected.Inarecentstudy,forexample,AntoineLutz,ascientistwhostudiesthe
neurobiologyofmeditationattheFrenchNationalInstituteofHealthandMedical
Research,andhiscolleaguesattheUniversityofWisconsinMadisondiscovered
longtermmeditatorsdevelopslowerbreathingpatternsthanthosewhodidnot
practiceonaregularbasis.Theslowerbreathinginlongtermpractitionersmay
activatethisascendingpathwayless,saysLutz,whowasnotinvolvedinthecurrent
study.Maybeitsasignatureofadifferentlevelofstress.

AccordingtoLutz,thefindingsfromlatestSciencepaperraisethepossibilitythat
anyformofpracticefromyoga,pranayamatomeditationthatisactively
manipulatingrespirationmightbeusingthispathwaytoregulatesomeaspectsof

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meditationscalmingeffectspinpointedinbrain/ 3/10
4/7/2017 Meditation'sCalmingEffectsPinpointedinBrainScientificAmerican

arousal.Hepointsout,however,thispathwaymaynotbeasrelevantforformsof
meditationthatdonotinvolvedirectlycontrollingrespiration.Forexample,insome
typesofmindfulnesstraining,individualssimplyobservetheirbreathratherthan
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controlit.

Breathingisaboutstayingaliveononelevel,butitsalsoconnectedtoemotional
life,saysChristopherDelNegro,aneurophysiologistattheCollegeofWilliam&
Marywhowasnotinvolvedinthework.Thestudiesshowingthatdifferentneural
populationsinthepreBtzingercomplexcanalsocontrolsighingandregulate
arousal,begintobreakthatnextlevelofnotjusttalkingaboutbreathingfor
physiology,butbreathingforemotionalwellbeing,headds.

Understandinghowthebraincontrolsbreathingcouldalsohelpdevelopnew
therapeutictargetstotreatconditionssuchasanxiety,panicdisordersandarousal
relatedsleepdisorders.[Cardiologists]havewaysofpharmacologicallycontrolling
theheartrhythm,Yacklesays.Butasimilartypeofpharmacologicalapproachfor
breathingdoesntexist,andIthinkitcouldbeimportantinmultiplefieldsof
medicine.

Beforethathappens,however,neuroscientistswillfirstneedtouncoverhowthis
brainregionworksinpeople.ResearchershavefoundapreBtzingercomplexin
humans,butitsanatomyandphysiologyaremuchlessunderstood.Fornow
Krasnow,Yackleandtheircolleaguesplantoinvestigatetheotherpopulationsof
neuronsinthebreathingpacemakerofrodentstoseewhatotherfunctionsthey
mightfind.Thepresentstudy,though,holdspromiseofeventuallyfurnishingatleast
apartialwindowonthephysicalunderpinningsofanancientpractice.

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A B OU T T H E A U T H OR(S)

Diana Kwon

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/meditationscalmingeffectspinpointedinbrain/ 4/10
4/7/2017 Meditation'sCalmingEffectsPinpointedinBrainScientificAmerican

Diana Kwon is a freelance science writer with a master's degree in

neuroscience from McGill University. More of her pieces can be found at
www.dianakwon.com.
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