Unser Atemrhythmus hat direkten Einfluss darauf, wie unser Gehirn Reize verarbeitet und Erinnerungen abruft. Das Einatmen verbessert die Erinnerungshinweise und das Ausatmen verbessert die Gedächtnisrekonstruktion. Bei manchen Menschen ist die Atmung jedoch effizienter mit neuronalen Prozessen verknüpft, und vermutlich funktioniert das Erinnern auch besser

> For the experiment, 18 participants learned to associate 120 images with certain words. The participants were then asked to recall these associations, and then asked to recall them again after a two-hour afternoon nap. While this was happening, the researchers recorded their breathing as well as their brain activity via EEG.

>Now published in The Journal of Neuroscience, the study results show that the participants were better able to recall the words and the corresponding images when the reminder cues were presented during or just before inhalation. “In the EEG, it becomes apparent, however, that the actual memory retrieval tends to happen during subsequent exhalation,” reports Schreiner. “Our data thus points to a sort of functional bifurcation: Inhalation is a favorable moment to receive the reminder cue, while exhalation is a favorable moment for the actual reconstruction of the memory in the brain.” This shows that respiratory rhythm shapes the temporal interplay of perception and effective remembering.
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>In the EEG recordings, the researchers found two characteristic signatures of successful remembering, which offer insights into the underlying neural patterns: One was the weakening of certain brainwaves – more specifically, alpha and beta activity. This suggests that the brain might activate a memory and focus more strongly on retrieval. The second signature consisted of so-called memory reactivations. In successful remembering, the same neural patterns resurfaced here as were active during learning.
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>Individual variations can exist in the extent to which memory-relevant brain processes are synchronized with respiration. The researchers found differences in degree between the participants, from which they conclude that respiration is linked more efficiently to neural processes in some people than in others. And if brain and respiration interact better, then presumably remembering works better accordingly: “Respiration is a natural pacemaker for memory processes, highlighting how closely our bodies and brains interact.”

[Respiration shapes the neural dynamics of successful remembering in humans. | Journal of Neuroscience](https://www.jneurosci.org/content/early/2025/11/26/JNEUROSCI.1221-25.2025)

Interesting. So yoga and breathing therapy does, in fact, affect the brain on the physiological level, it’s not just mental?