V-43
Cognition, Behavior, and Memory
Can instructed slow breathing persist across sleep onset? Preliminary respiratory and EEG findings
Nerea L. Herrero1, Nicolás Ferrante1, Matias R. Pretel1, Julia Carbone1,4, Martin A Santiago2,5, Luis I Brusco3,5, Cecilia Forcato1
1. Laboratorio de Sueño y Memoria, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Instituto Tecnológico de Buenos Aires (ITBA).
2. Centro de Investigaciones en Física e Ingeniería del Centro De La Provincia De Buenos Aires (CIFICEN, UNCPBA-CONICET-CICPBA).
3. Centro de Neuropsiquiatría y Neurología de la Conducta (CENECON), Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA).
4. Institute of Medical Psychology and Behavioral Neurobiology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
5. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET).
Presenting Author:
neherrero@itba.edu.ar
Slow-paced breathing may provide a way to study whether an instructed bodily pattern can persist during sleep onset. In a randomized within-subject crossover study, 12 participants completed spontaneous-breathing control and paced-breathing (2.5 breaths/min) sessions while lying supine with eyes closed. EEG and respiration were recorded continuously, sleep stages were scored, and 11D-ASC and BMIS were administered. Paced breathing reduced respiratory rate to 2.49 breaths/min compared with 10.69 during control (p=.0078) and participants remained awake for longer (79.7% vs 42.3%, Holm p=.0117). Three participants entered N1 sleep while still maintaining the instructed breathing rate of about 2.5 breaths/min. Alpha activity decreased during control but was relatively preserved during paced breathing (+2.15 dB, Holm p=.0148). When only wakefulness periods were analyzed, this difference was smaller and no longer significant (+1.15 dB, p=.070). No FDR-corrected 11D-ASC effects or BMIS differences were found. In an exploratory analysis, greater alpha preservation was associated with increased Blissful State (ρ=.83, p=.008, FDR=.091). These results show that an instructed slow-breathing pattern can persist into early sleep, raising new questions about how instructions established during wakefulness may continue to guide behavior as consciousness changes across sleep onset.
