Schedule of Events | Symposia

Examining mechanism of memory modulation by paced breathing: Arousal or divided attention?

Poster Session B - Sunday, March 30, 2025, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Back Bay Ballroom/Republic Ballroom

Brandon H. Edwards^1,2, Isabelle Dugle¹, Lilia Reihs¹, Katherine R. Mickley Steinmetz¹; ¹Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC, ²University of North Carolina Greensboro

Increased arousal is consistently found to be associated with increased memory. However, it is unclear whether relaxation techniques alter memory through decreased arousal or through divided attention. This study used paced breathing to manipulate arousal and compare the attention and arousal hypotheses of memory modulation. Changes in attention and memory were measured as proxies for arousal in the central nervous system, while skin conductance level (SCL) and heart rate variability (HRV) were measured as proxies for arousal in the peripheral nervous system. A sample of 170 young adults viewed a block of emotional pictures and then viewed a block of neutral pictures while breathing at a slow-pace (E-N SPB), normal pace (E-N Normal), or fast-pace (E-N FPB). Control participants viewed two sets of neutral pictures while breathing at a normal pace (N-N Normal). Participants returned four hours later for a surprise recognition memory test. Participants in both the E-N SPB and E-N FPB conditions demonstrated elevated SCL and better memory performance during Block 1 than during Block 2. However, when attentional load was controlled for, this difference was eliminated. This indicates that the attentional cost of changing breathing pace – not the change in arousal – led to decreases in memory. HRV differed by breathing pace such that it increased for slow-paced breathing and decreased for fast-paced breathing. These results support the attention hypothesis of memory modulation, suggesting that despite evoking changes in arousal, the change in breathing pace during encoding divided attention and subsequently impaired memory.

Topic Area: LONG-TERM MEMORY: Other