How Breathing Impacts The Brain AND The Body with David Bidler & Dr. Jose Herrero

Whereas the neurophysiology of respiration has traditionally focused on automatic brainstem processes, higher brain mechanisms underlying the cognitive aspects of breathing are gaining increasing interest. Therapeutic techniques have used conscious control and awareness of breathing for millennia with little understanding of the mechanisms underlying their efficacy. 

We will discuss recent results from our lab using direct intracranial recordings in human patients and simultaneous respiratory measurements. Our data shows that respiration modulates brain excitability of multiple cortical and limbic areas above the brainstem. It also highlights the importance of breathwork to change the way our brains process information from the outside world as well as from the inner one (internal sensations).

About David Bidler

David Bidler is a speaker, author, and leader in professional development. David is the CEO of Breathe to Perform which shares the science of stress management and peak performance with industry leaders and their teams. David proudly serves as the President of the nonprofit organization Physiology First and presents material from the Breathe to Perform professional development series to students around the United States. David owns The Distance Project: Strength and Conditioning, in Freeport, Maine and is an avid endurance athlete and ultramarathon competitor.

About Dr. Jose Herrero

Born in Spain, Dr. Jose Herrero studied psychology as an undergraduate. He then moved to the UK to obtain his PhD in monkey electrophysiology, focusing on processes related to attention and memory, as well as neuromodulation.

In April 2012 Dr. Herrero moved to NY to attend Columbia University where he studied layer dependent attention effects. In April 2015 he moved to the Feinstein institute to work with epileptic patients implanted with intracranial electrodes on processes related to breathing control, meditation, and neurostimulation.