Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior • Hacker News Board

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#81

Post by thisoneisreal » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 2:43 PM UTC

watwut wrote: post #54

thisoneisreal wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree it's counterintuitive, but it makes sense when I think about how, for example, it's the least neurotic people who do high-risk activities like base jumping or mountain climbing. Fear drives you away from threatening things, lack of fear allows you to move toward them more comfortably.

I dont know what you mean by "neurotic", but my impression was that quite a lot of these have mental health issues. In some cases, the risk taking seemed more like hope for suicide in denial. And they tend to be difficult people with broken relationship.

I mean in the Big 5 personality model sense. Someone who is neurotic is sensitive, more prone to negative emotions including fear. Someone who is low in neuroticism is less fearful and sensitive on average. So for example you could put two people in the situation of being about to jump out of a plane and one would feel terrified for their life while the other would feel only mild apprehension.

EDIT: People are a complex blends of emotions and motivations, so you're certainly right that can be another explanation for the same observable behavior. I really liked the comment about adrenaline junkies too. My point was only that on average it's low-sensitivity people who engage in those sorts of activities. Scaredy cats like myself stay home and read a good book.

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#82

Post by SaltyBackendGuy » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 3:10 PM UTC

achow wrote: post #39

Sam6late wrote: post #17

Slow breathing is also recommended for novices before public speaking, as it helps speakers overcome irrational physiological fear of facing people, the risk-taking shift is useful as it helps you speak more confidently, not more cautiously. Slow breathing can calm nerves quickly; bottom-up regulation: body tells brain “you’re safe”.

Slow breathing (in yoga: pranayama) instantly down-regulates your nervous system by boosting vagal tone and lowering sympathetic "fight-or-flight" activity. When your breath lengthens, it signals your brain that you are completely safe, dropping your heart rate and lowering blood pressure. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12858147/

I first learned about this in the army, called "tactical breathing". I still consistently use this before public speaking or if I feel myself in a manic/stressed state of mind.

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#83

Post by krzat » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 3:12 PM UTC

elendilm wrote: post #57

The idiocy of thinking calmness leading to optimal results. Usually this comes from people who never accomplished anything. The paper is the prime example of pseudo science masquerading as science.

Oh, the irony of writing an angry post about benefits of anger.

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#84

Post by djtango » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 3:28 PM UTC

brador wrote: post #53

achow wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Slow breathing (in yoga: pranayama) instantly down-regulates your nervous system by boosting vagal tone and lowering sympathetic "fight-or-flight" activity. When your breath lengthens, it signals your brain that you are completely safe, dropping your heart rate and lowering blood pressure. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12858147/

It doesn’t signal anything. Your heart rate drops because you’re inhaling less oxygen so your heart is like “we don’t need this high fi flow” and slows down blood flow to lower energy expenditure. Lower energy state always wins unless chasing energy source.

Your confident ignorance motivated me to at least dig up some cursory research on this space, I hadn’t previously bothered because I live and breathe this stuff (pun not intended).

As a young impressionable, I set out to understand and overcome performance anxiety as someone who suffered from it. After some reading, one of my conclusions was that I should do the most stressful thing possible to understand stress better and develop physical tolerance to stress. This culminated in me signing up for a series of Muay Thai interclub fights because getting punched (or kicked) in the head while pushing your heart rate to ~200bpm is definitely up there for “stressful circumstances”.

Turns out breathing really helps in that situation too beyond just taking in more oxygen - relaxation is critical for both technical execution and strategic thinking.

Slow breathing also really helps with freediving - another hobby of mine that I dabble with that happens to involve going deep (no pun intended) on conscious relaxation.

But sure, it’s just you taking in oxygen to moderate your heart rate. Here are some papers I surfaced for you and others who are interested

[0] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aan1466

[1] https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aai7984

[2] https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/human-neuroscience/arti...

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#85

Post by hrideshmg » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 3:36 PM UTC

meindnoch wrote: post #44

Sam6late wrote: post #17

Slow breathing is also recommended for novices before public speaking, as it helps speakers overcome irrational physiological fear of facing people, the risk-taking shift is useful as it helps you speak more confidently, not more cautiously. Slow breathing can calm nerves quickly; bottom-up regulation: body tells brain “you’re safe”.

Professional public speakers use a beta blocker like propanolol before going on stage.

I don't think this is necessary at all, anecdotal but I used to have terrible social anxiety and fear of public speaking but after putting myself through it for several rounds it just kind of clicked.

Eventually, your body learns to adapt and understand that this thing you dreaded isn't so bad after all

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#86

Post by SamBam » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 3:42 PM UTC

cryzinger wrote: post #4

Parasympathetic nervous activation increased risk-taking behavior? That's interesting/unexpected (at least to me). Also, this part caught my eye: > The selective impact of prolonged exhalation breathing on reward responsiveness has important implications for clinical contexts, such as anxiety, panic disorder, and depression, given their distinct autonomic signatures and maladaptive reward processing. By enhancing car…

I was confused when I first read it as well, but the implication is that the higher reward-seeking risk tolerance can actually be more rational than the well-studied loss-aversion bias that the authors mention.

Looking into this more, studies have found that we tend to rate the possible loss of $100 twice as painfully as the pleasure from the possible gain of $100. This can lead to irrational behaviors.

Increasing the weight we give to potential rewards is not necessarily a bad thing.

I think this can help explain the "calming of the nerves" that slow breathing promotes. If you need to speak in public and your heart is racing and you're shaking, this is an irrational reaction to what ought to be a very safe situation. By focusing more on the rewards (the acclaim for a good speech or whatever) and less on the imagined risks, you can calm down and speak naturally.

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#87

Post by sdsd » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 4:00 PM UTC

toxik wrote: post #47

galaxyLogic wrote: post #29

But fear is often good. Breathing slow to counter your fear should only be done when you know it is an irrational fear.

Fear is rarely good, surely? Maybe if you potentially have to literally fight for your life, yes, but that - I hope - is a rare occurrence.

Some fears of mine: STDs, car crashes, losing my job, getting in trouble, harsh conflict, social ostracization, my kids getting hurt, getting sick, dying, losing my laptop, I mean I could go on and on. I think most fears are so rational and obvious we forget to even classify them as fears, instead reserving that label exclusively for irrational fears.

Out of the emotions, the feeling urging us to avoid negative consequences seems pretty useful haha

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#88

Post by intheitmines » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 4:16 PM UTC

seper8 wrote: post #79

tmach32 wrote: post #43

I've been practicing coherent breathing (6 breaths/min, equal inhalation and exhalation) to help with anxiety. I'm mostly going off a study[1] where participants who practiced coherent breathing 20 mins a day reported significantly improved outcomes weeks later. Does anyone have advice about HRV specifically within the context of anxiety? I've been measuring my SDNN using a Polar strap, and it hasn't really budged. H…

I've done coherent breathing before bed, 20 minutes. Improves my HRV by 20-30%

Same, several nights in a row when trying it for just 5 minutes after a baseline 30 days around the same number previously.

I wonder if people practicing sports / exercise that puts you in a cyclic breathing cycle i.e continuous effort run / cycling would have the same gain or not.

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#89

Post by evolvingstuff » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 4:18 PM UTC

kator wrote: post #69

meindnoch wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Professional public speakers use a beta blocker like propanolol before going on stage.

> Professional public speakers... Maybe some do, but I've never needed it. Often I actually find public speaking easier than small groups. In a small group my brain is trying to "model" what each person is thinking about my talk, as the groups get larger that becomes impossible and I tend to relax and let go. I also find the energy in a larger setting is a useful feedback mechanism. I might toss a small joke out and…

That's interesting. My brain does the same in terms of attempting to simulate that model of the people, but when it becomes impossible to run the algorithm (too large of a group), instead of just giving up, my brain goes into panic mode. I have found propranolol helps me with many of the physical symptoms that would otherwise dominate.

Re: Slow breathing modulates brain function and risk behavior

#90

Post by brador » Sun, Jun 21, 2026, 4:20 PM UTC

djtango wrote: post #84

brador wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn’t signal anything. Your heart rate drops because you’re inhaling less oxygen so your heart is like “we don’t need this high fi flow” and slows down blood flow to lower energy expenditure. Lower energy state always wins unless chasing energy source.

Your confident ignorance motivated me to at least dig up some cursory research on this space, I hadn’t previously bothered because I live and breathe this stuff (pun not intended). As a young impressionable, I set out to understand and overcome performance anxiety as someone who suffered from it. After some reading, one of my conclusions was that I should do the most stressful thing possible to understand stress bett…

Cancel the Muai Thai, switch to Judo immediately.

Your brain is attached to your inner skull with candyfloss like tendrils. They do not repair. Software engineering, even prompting, with a concussion or CTE is impossible.