How Does Paced Breathing Influence Post-Emotion Encoding?

The carry-over of emotional brain states can prospectively bias the encoding and recollection of unrelated neutral information (Tambini, Rimmele, et al., 2017), but the mechanism of this processes is unknown. The current study examined the ability for paced breathing to alter arousal and influence memory formation by viewing a block of emotional pictures and then a block of neutral pictures while breathing at a slow, normal, or fast pace. Control participants viewed two neutral blocks, with normal paced breathing during the second block. This was followed by a delayed memory test. Breathing pace was associated with changes to psychophysiology. Skin conductance levels were highest for those in the fast-paced breathing group and heart rate variability increased for slow-paced breathing and decreased for fast-paced breathing. However, memory did not differ between slow- and fast-paced breathing, suggesting that it is the shifting of goals – rather than the reduction in arousal – associated with paced breathing that may reduce the emotional carry-over effect.