ArticleFrontiers in systems neuroscience2022
Neural Correlates of Non-ordinary States of Consciousness in Pranayama Practitioners: The Role of Slow Nasal Breathing.
Article in Frontiers in systems neuroscience, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06914167 (The Effectiveness of Lavender Aromatherapy Combined With Slow Breathing Exercises in Improving Occupational Burnout and Sleep Disorders Among Nursing Staff), which is not on this map. Cited by 19 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effectiveness of Lavender Aromatherapy Combined With Slow Breathing Exercises in Improving Occupational Burnout and Sleep Disorders Among Nursing Staff
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Examining the Effectiveness of Breathwork to Improve Resilience and Psychological Wellbeing While Reducing Anxiety, Depression, Stress, and Insomnia in Paramedicine Students: A Single-Blind Randomised Controlled Trial.Stress and health : journal of the International Society for the Investigation of Stress · 2026Trial
- Lightening the mind with audiovisual stimulation as an accessible alternative to breath-focused meditation for mood and cognitive enhancement.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- A nose-to-brain circuit underlies anxiety regulation by nasal afferent frequency in mice.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Resting-state EEG for continuous prognostic monitoring and prediction of coma recovery after acute brain injury.Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2026Article
- Lower breathing frequencies in personalized slow-paced breathing enhance relaxation and reduce arousal.iScience · 2026Article
- Nasal and oral breathing modes reconfigure brain network dynamics between stabilizing integration and promoting fragmentation.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Know Your Nose: A Narrative Review of the Developmental and Functional Impact and Importance of the Nose, Nasal Breathing and Techniques on Health and Emotional Wellbeing.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The Swara-Informed model of autonomic synchrony in psychotherapy: theoretical foundations and hypotheses.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Breathwork for Chronic Stress and Mental Health: Does Choosing a Specific Technique Matter?Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The brain-heart axis: integrative cooperation of neural, mechanical and biochemical pathways.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2025Review
- Effects of Nasal and Oral Breathing on Respiratory Muscle and Brain Function: A ReviewThoracic research and practice · 2025Article
- Article
- Neuronal oscillations and functional connectivity of paced nostril breathing: A high-density EEG study.PloS one · 2025Article
- Attention to cardiac sensations enhances the heartbeat-evoked potential during exhalation.iScience · 2024Article
- Report from a Tibetan Monastery: EEG neural correlates of concentrative and analytical meditation.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Neural correlates of breath work, mental imagery of yoga postures, and meditation in yoga practitioners: a functional near-infrared spectroscopy study.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Article
- Enhanced Myocardial Adenylyl Cyclase Activity Alters Heart-Brain Communication.JACC. Clinical electrophysiology · 2023Article
- Is Hypnotic Induction Necessary to Experience Hypnosis and Responsible for Changes in Brain Activity?Brain sciences · 2023Article
- The effect of a single-session heart rate variability biofeedback on attentional control: does stress matter?Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The modulatory effect of nasal respiration on integrative brain functions and hence consciousness has recently been unambiguously demonstrated. This effect is sustained by the olfactory epithelium mechanical sensitivity complemented by the existence of massive projections between the olfactory bulb and the prefrontal cortex. However, studies on slow nasal breathing (SNB) in the context of contemplative practices have sustained the fundamental role of respiratory vagal stimulation, with little attention to the contribution of the olfactory epithelium mechanical stimulation. This study aims at disentangling the effects of olfactory epithelium stimulation (proper of nasal breathing) from those related to respiratory vagal stimulation (common to slow nasal and mouth breathing). We investigated the psychophysiological (cardio-respiratory and electroencephalographic parameters) and phenomenological (perceived state of consciousness) aftereffects of SNB (epithelium mechanical - 2.5 breaths/min) in 12 experienced meditators. We compared the nasal breathing aftereffects with those observed after a session of mouth breathing at the same respiratory rate and with those related to a resting state condition. SNB induced (1) slowing of electroencephalography (EEG) activities (delta-theta bands) in prefrontal regions, (2) a widespread increase of theta and high-beta connectivity complemented by an increase of phase-amplitude coupling between the two bands in prefrontal and posterior regions belonging to the Default Mode Network, (3) an increase of high-beta networks small-worldness. (4) a higher perception of being in a non-ordinary state of consciousness. The emerging scenario strongly suggests that the effects of SNB, beyond the relative contribution of vagal stimulation, are mainly ascribable to olfactory epithelium stimulation. In conclusion, slow Pranayama breathing modulates brain activity and hence subjective experience up to the point of inducing a non-ordinary state of consciousness.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.