Breathing Through the Nose May Offer Unique Brain Benefits

Breathing(ˈbrēT͟HiNG) Through the Nose May Offer Unique Brain(brān) Benefits

By Gretchen Reynolds(rā)

Folklore(ˈfōkˌlôr), spiritual(ˈspiriCHo͞oəl) traditions(trəˈdiSHən) and even mothers have for ages drawn(drôn) an implicit(imˈplisit) connection between respiration(ˌrespəˈrāSHən) and state(stāt) of mind: Breathe in deeply through your nose, we are told, to clarify(ˈklarəˌfī) thoughts, achieve serenity(səˈrenədē), defuse(diˈfyo͞oz) tantrums(ˈtantrəm). There isn’t a lot of scientific evidence to back up these ideas, but a growing number of experiments(ikˈsperəmənt) have been looking at the influence that breathing has on our cognition(ˌkägˈniSHən). In October, a study in The Journal(ˈjərnl) of Neuroscience(ˌn(y)o͝orōˈsīəns) considered the relationship between memory and how we breathe.

Recognizing odors(ˈōdər) is a key survival(sərˈvīvəl) mechanism(ˈmekəˌnizəm) for most creatures(ˈkrēCHər) — including humans, of course. This is why neuroscientists believe the links between thinking and breathing were early evolutionary(ˌevəˈlo͞oSHəˌnerē) adaptations(ˌadapˈtāSHən). Studies have shown that when rodents(ˈrōdnt) sniff(snif), the flow(flō) of even odorless air initiates(iˈniSHēˌāt) brain activity by stimulating(ˈstimyəˌlātiNG) neurons(ˈn(y)o͝orän
) in what’s called the olfactory(älˈfakt(ə)rē,ōl-) bulb(bəlb), which then signal the hippocampus(ˌhipəˈkampəs), a part of the brain involved in the creation and storage of memories. For the October study, researchers at the Karolinska Institute(ˈinstəˌt(y)o͞ot) in Stockholm(ˈstäkˌhō(l)m), Sweden(ˈswēdn), and other institutions(ˌinstəˈt(y)o͞oSH(ə)n) conducted an experiment to see whether something similar(ˈsimələr) happens to us if we breathe through our mouths.

…

The men and women were consistently much better at recognizing smells if they breathed through their noses during the quiet(ˈkwīət) hour. Mouth breathing resulted in fuzzier(ˈfəzē) recall and more incorrect(ˌinkəˈrekt) answers.

…
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/well/mind/breathing-through-the-nose-may-offer-unique-brain-benefits.html