Neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing: A high-density EEG study.

Controlling nostril airflow through hand manipulations is an ancient yoga technique that has been suggested to provide targeted modulation of neuronal excitability and regulation of autonomic function, which is known to be lateralized in the brain. Here, we examined if unilateral and alternate nostr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Anita B Frohlich, Flavio Frohlich, Miriam Sklerov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316125
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1823864078253162496
author Anita B Frohlich
Flavio Frohlich
Miriam Sklerov
author_facet Anita B Frohlich
Flavio Frohlich
Miriam Sklerov
author_sort Anita B Frohlich
collection DOAJ
description Controlling nostril airflow through hand manipulations is an ancient yoga technique that has been suggested to provide targeted modulation of neuronal excitability and regulation of autonomic function, which is known to be lateralized in the brain. Here, we examined if unilateral and alternate nostril breathing differentially impacts brain network oscillations measured by high-density EEG in healthy control participants with no prior experience in breathing techniques. We found that paced nostril breathing both decreased alpha/mu oscillations over central and parietal areas and increased frontal midline and occipital theta oscillations when comparing to spontaneous breathing. Alternate nostril breathing suppressed alpha/mu oscillation more than left nostril breathing. Unilateral nostril breathing resulted in an ipsilateral increase in alpha connectivity while left nostril breathing increased anterior-posterior midline theta connectivity. In contrast to the EEG results, heart rate, heart rate variability, and cognitive performance assessed with a working memory task did not differ significantly by breathing condition. Our results add to the existent literature on nasal breathing by demonstrating changes in cortical oscillations and connectivity during a task that combined slow breathing with manual nasal pathway modulation.
format Article
id doaj-art-55e099c2ef174935ae6d38a87aeee505
institution Kabale University
issn 1932-6203
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
record_format Article
series PLoS ONE
spelling doaj-art-55e099c2ef174935ae6d38a87aeee5052025-02-09T05:30:42ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032025-01-01202e031612510.1371/journal.pone.0316125Neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing: A high-density EEG study.Anita B FrohlichFlavio FrohlichMiriam SklerovControlling nostril airflow through hand manipulations is an ancient yoga technique that has been suggested to provide targeted modulation of neuronal excitability and regulation of autonomic function, which is known to be lateralized in the brain. Here, we examined if unilateral and alternate nostril breathing differentially impacts brain network oscillations measured by high-density EEG in healthy control participants with no prior experience in breathing techniques. We found that paced nostril breathing both decreased alpha/mu oscillations over central and parietal areas and increased frontal midline and occipital theta oscillations when comparing to spontaneous breathing. Alternate nostril breathing suppressed alpha/mu oscillation more than left nostril breathing. Unilateral nostril breathing resulted in an ipsilateral increase in alpha connectivity while left nostril breathing increased anterior-posterior midline theta connectivity. In contrast to the EEG results, heart rate, heart rate variability, and cognitive performance assessed with a working memory task did not differ significantly by breathing condition. Our results add to the existent literature on nasal breathing by demonstrating changes in cortical oscillations and connectivity during a task that combined slow breathing with manual nasal pathway modulation.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316125
spellingShingle Anita B Frohlich
Flavio Frohlich
Miriam Sklerov
Neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing: A high-density EEG study.
PLoS ONE
title Neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing: A high-density EEG study.
title_full Neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing: A high-density EEG study.
title_fullStr Neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing: A high-density EEG study.
title_full_unstemmed Neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing: A high-density EEG study.
title_short Neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing: A high-density EEG study.
title_sort neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing a high density eeg study
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0316125
work_keys_str_mv AT anitabfrohlich neuronaloscillationsandfunctionalconnectivityofpacednostrilbreathingahighdensityeegstudy
AT flaviofrohlich neuronaloscillationsandfunctionalconnectivityofpacednostrilbreathingahighdensityeegstudy
AT miriamsklerov neuronaloscillationsandfunctionalconnectivityofpacednostrilbreathingahighdensityeegstudy