LMU neuroscientists have shown that breathing coordinates neuronal activity throughout the brain during sleep and quiet.
While we sleep, the brain is not switched off, but is busy with “saving” the important memories of the day. To achieve that, brain regions are synchronized to coordinate the transmission of information between them. Yet, the mechanisms that enable this synchronization across multiple remote brain regions are not well understood. Traditionally, these mechanisms were sought in correlated activity patterns within the brain. However, LMU neuroscientists Prof. Anton Sirota and Dr. Nikolas Karalis have now been able to show that breathing acts as a pacemaker that entrains the various brain regions and synchronizes them with each other.
Breathing is the most persistent and essential bodily rhythm and exerts a strong physiological effect on the autonomous nervous system….
