Singhing: a psychophysiological resetter hypothesis.

So far, psychophysiological research on breathing behavior has been focused on basic mean respiratory timing and volume parameters, promoting stable breathing as healthy breathing. However, a dynamic systems approach conceives of a healthy respiratory system as a dynamic, complex system characterized by substantial variability. A well regulated respiratory system balances considerable correlated variability (breathing parameters are correlated to previous and future breathing parameters) arising from homeostatic control processes, and some random variability arising from occasional random behavioral perturbations. Despite its theoretical and clinical relvance, the relation between psychological states and breathing dynamics has received only little attention. How psychological states affect various fractions of respiratory variability representing dynamic regulation of breathing has almost not been investigated. Due to poor understanding of the interrelationships between psychological states and breathing dynamics, conflicting treatment practices in relaxation and breathing related psychopathologies (e.g. breathing (re)training) exist. The current project describes a theoretical framework including specific hypotheses on how both emotion and attention are intertwined with breathing variability and sighing, and proposes a research plan to investigate these hypotheses systematically.

Keywords:Emotions, Respiratory variability, Sighing, Attention

Disciplines:Biological and physiological psychology, General psychology, Other psychology and cognitive sciences, Animal experimental and comparative psychology, Applied psychology, Human experimental psychology