The body’s rhythms are linked to how the brain shapes perception and emotions — an overview

Conscious experience is not formed solely within the brain: perception, emotions and the sense of one’s own body can be influenced by the rhythms of the heart, breathing and the stomach. This is the conclusion reached by the authors of a new scientific review on the synchronisation of the brain and internal organs.

The paper has been published in the journal *Neuroscience of Consciousness*. This is not a new experiment, but rather an analysis of existing research; therefore, the conclusions describe a general picture and hypotheses that have yet to be tested directly.

Details

The authors of the review are Asa Young and Jonathan Schooler (Jonathan W. Schooler) from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Marissa Ericson from the University of Southern California. They reviewed studies examining how regular signals from the heart, respiratory system and stomach coincide in time with fluctuations in brain activity.

The significance of such synchronisation goes beyond merely conveying information about the body’s state. According to the authors, recurring bodily rhythms may provide an overarching temporal framework around which different brain regions coordinate their processing of information.

For example, in previous experiments, people were more likely to begin a new task whilst inhaling, and recognition of previously seen images was better under certain conditions when the image appeared during inhalation rather than exhalation. Other studies have shown that the phase of the cardiac cycle can alter the speed at which frightening images are processed and sensitivity to neutral stimuli.

The authors also examine the slow electrical rhythm of the stomach. Its connection with brain activity changes under stress and may be linked to interoception — the perception of signals from one’s own body.

However, a stronger connection between the brain and the body does not necessarily indicate better health. The review describes a possible ‘optimal zone’: in various studies, both too weak and too strong synchronisation have been associated with adverse conditions.

Why this matters

This approach broadens the conventional model, in which perception and consciousness are viewed primarily as the result of brain activity. The authors propose studying the brain and body as a single dynamic system, in which heart rate, breathing and stomach activity can influence when neural networks become more or less receptive to information.

This may also be important for research into mental disorders. During states of anxiety, bodily signals sometimes become overly prominent, whereas in depression, sensitivity to certain internal signals may decrease. The authors suggest that, in future, parameters of brain-body synchronisation could help to describe the common biological profiles of different disorders.

However, this does not yet constitute a new diagnostic test or treatment. The review brings together the results of various studies using different methods and sample groups, and the idea of an ‘optimal zone’ of synchronisation remains a generalised hypothesis. Furthermore, the link between rhythm disturbances and mental states does not prove that one directly causes the other.

Source

Original publication: Asa Young, Marissa Ericson, Jonathan W. Schooler, ‘I sync, therefore I am: brain–body synchrony in typical and disordered consciousness’, *Neuroscience of Consciousness*, 2026. DOI: 10.1093/nc/niag028.

Official material from the University of California, Santa Barbara: How the heart, lungs and brain work together to shape experience.