Why the study?
How different breathing modes, specifically nasal versus oral, affect frequency-specific large-scale neural connectivity in humans remains unexplored.
Does nasal breathing compared to oral breathing modulate functional brain connectivity in healthy males?
Population
20 healthy male participants
Comparison
Nasal vs oral breathing
Design
Resting-state fMRI study
Key result
Nasal breathing was associated with greater functional connectivity within higher-order brain networks, whereas oral breathing increased connectivity centered on the brainstem (p-FDR < 0.05).
Authors
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Does not support changing breathing practices; leaves open causal effects on cognition or disease.
Observational (n=20)
Does nasal breathing compared to oral breathing modulate functional brain connectivity in healthy males?
p-value: p=<0.05
Nasal and oral breathing modes engage distinct large-scale brain networks, suggesting respiration mode selectively modulates brain-wide functional connectivity.
Mohammadi et al. (2025) conducted an observational in Healthy (n=20). Nasal breathing vs. Oral breathing was evaluated on Functional brain connectivity (BOLD fluctuations in 0.1-0.2 Hz band) (p=<0.05). Nasal breathing was associated with greater functional connectivity within higher-order brain networks, whereas oral breathing increased connectivity centered on the brainstem (p-FDR < 0.05).