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Krause E, Benke C, Hamm AO, et al. Hold your breath: Voluntary breath-holding time predicts defensive activation to approaching internal threat. Biol Psychol. 2021;166:108196doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108196.
Krause, E., Benke, C., Hamm, A. O., & Pané-Farré, C. A. (2021). Hold your breath: Voluntary breath-holding time predicts defensive activation to approaching internal threat. Biological psychology, 166108196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108196
Krause, Elischa, et al. "Hold your breath: Voluntary breath-holding time predicts defensive activation to approaching internal threat." Biological psychology vol. 166 (2021): 108196. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108196
Krause E, Benke C, Hamm AO, Pané-Farré CA. Hold your breath: Voluntary breath-holding time predicts defensive activation to approaching internal threat. Biol Psychol. 2021 Nov;166:108196. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108196. Epub 2021 Oct 01. PMID: 34601017.
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Biol Psychol. 2021 Nov;166:108196. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108196. Epub 2021 Oct 01.

Hold your breath: Voluntary breath-holding time predicts defensive activation to approaching internal threat.

Biological psychology

Elischa Krause, Christoph Benke, Alfons O Hamm, Christiane A Pané-Farré

Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/ Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Str. 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Str., 17475 Greifswald, Germany.
  2. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, 35037 Marburg, Germany.
  3. Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/ Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Str. 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany.
  4. Department of Physiological and Clinical Psychology/ Psychotherapy, University of Greifswald, Franz-Mehring-Str. 47, 17487 Greifswald, Germany; Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Marburg, Gutenbergstr. 18, 35037 Marburg, Germany. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 34601017 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108196

Abstract

Bodily disturbances, like dyspnea, elicit responses to regain homeostasis and ensure survival. However, this life-saving function can become hyperreactive, which may lead to the emergence of psychopathology. This study investigated whether maximal voluntary breath-holding time (mvBHT), a biobehavioral marker that characterizes sensitivity to respiratory stimulation, predicts defensive mobilization to cues signaling the proximity of a mild electric shock vs. a respiratory threat (shortness of breath elicited by forced breath-holding) and the opportunity to avoid threat delivery in 60 healthy participants. While the startle reflex, a measure of defensive mobilization, generally increased with the proximity of an inevitable threat, shorter breath-holding time was specifically associated with greater startle potentiation when anticipating a respiratory threat but not an electric shock. In contrast, when both threats were avoidable, the startle reflex was comparably inhibited, irrespective of mvBHT. This study suggests that mvBHT specifically predicts hypersensitive responding to an anticipated inevitable respiratory threat.

Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Breath-holding; Defense cascade; Fear; Panic disorder; Startle

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