Abstract:
Previous research has demonstrated that auditory
rhythms affect both movement and physiological
functions. We hypothesized that the ecological sounds of
human breathing can affect breathing more than artificial
sounds of breathing, varying in tones for inspiration and
expiration. To address this question, we monitored the
breath duration of participants exposed to three conditions:
(a) ecological sounds of breathing, (b) artificial sounds of
breathing having equal temporal features as the ecological
sounds, (c) no sounds (control). We found that participants’
breath duration variability was reduced in the ecological
sound condition, more than in the artificial sound condition.
We suggest that ecological sounds captured the timing
of breathing better than artificial sounds, guiding as a
consequence participants’ breathing. We interpreted our
results according to the Theory of Event Coding, providing
further support to its validity, and suggesting its possible
extension in the domain of physiological functions which
are both consciously and unconsciously controlled.
