Emotions and respiratory patterns. Review and critical analysis

Reviews the literature on the effects of (induced) emotions on breathing patterns in normal individuals. After the early years of experimental psychology, attention to this relationship has been sparse, presumably due to difficulties in adequate measurement of respiration. The available data suggest that respiration patterns reflect the general dimensions of emotional response that are linked to response requirements of the emotional situations. It is suggested that the major dimensions are those of calm-excitement, relaxation-tenseness, and active vs passive coping. Research on the emotion-respiration relationships has been largely restricted to the correlates of respiration rate, amplitude, and volume. Finer distinctions than those indicated may be possible if a wider range of parameters (e.g., the form of the respiratory cycle) is included in the investigation.