Pilot Study of the Effects of Paced Breathing on Measures of Convergent and Divergent Thinking.

Background: The ability of the autonomic nervous system's stress response to impair aspects of cognitive flexibility is known. However, the ability to modulate the sympathetic response and improve these cognitive impairments via nonpharmacological intervention, such as paced breathing (PB), requires further investigation.

Objective: To better elucidate the effects of PB on cognition.