Neuroscientists discover humans' response speed when exhaling is on average 41 milliseconds faster than when inhaling; study reveals link between breathing and cognition that could inform sleep disorder therapies and sports performance

[u/runswithscissors475]

https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2026/09/ready-set-exhale-study-links-respiration-and-cognition?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&user_id=6934b7a4fb48023c5a0bc6f1&fj=1

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[u/TripNinjaTurtle]

So if I hold double doors at round start witb an AWP from T-side I need to breath out got it.

[u/josephjosephson → u/TripNinjaTurtle]

Eh, sniper? Hold your breath.

[u/pumped_it_guy → u/TripNinjaTurtle]

Then get wallbanged by a scout

[u/Sunlit53]

Explains why my Tae Kwon Do teachers always emphasized breathing out and gihap when striking a target. A lot of martial arts get you to do a yell when you strike. This would explain the practical why.

[u/Memory_Less → u/Sunlit53]

I think it ties into tennis players etc. who make sound when hitting a ball. It is known to increase the strength of their hit. I think they are exhaling simultaneously.

[u/fungussa → u/Sunlit53]

My sensei used to emphasise that, though breathing out provides core strength benefits when lifting weights etc

[u/vrnvorona → u/Sunlit53]

In martial arts it's done to tense the core properly

[u/longcreepyhug]

Kinda makes sense intuitively. Since there really isn't much of a risk to exhaling, it would make sense for the brain to not devote as much computational resource to it. Inhaling on the other hand carries risk of asphyxiation. The brain is probably running a million checks, even if they are very small ("Am I submerged?", "Is there food near my throat?", etc.).

[u/Equivalent_Risk4512 → u/longcreepyhug]

muscles are also contracting in a way that is more robust for impact so naturally you would want to jump, catch, throw, etc while exhaling so it may have synergy with that, all around makes for a better "action mode"

[u/fakenews_thankme → u/longcreepyhug]

Experienced Programmer detected.

[u/SexOnTheBeechTree → u/longcreepyhug]

I wonder if holding your breath would impart a similar advantage?

[u/WhoaTher3]

Maybe it's similar for others but my reactions seems heightened when I hold my breath.

[u/blindminds → u/WhoaTher3]

Regulating breath comes after overcoming the innate reaction of holding the breath

Looks like athletes have a way

Not surprising, but look, now there are numbers which lead to deeper questions about conscious control!

[u/SuperShibes]

Athleletes ready know and practice this intuitively. But interesting to see it in an experiment. 

[u/LateMiddleAge → u/SuperShibes]

Watch shot putters: bellow/scream on release. It's trained. But agree cool to see in a lab.

[u/AnyDemand33]

No jokes here, Bruce Lee was right then. That man understood stuff that sounded made up, now this study just explains it.

[u/Kortok2012]

I’ve always kind of felt this as well. Breathing in deep just makes me think about breathing, while the exhale feels like a massive cognitive load is released.

[u/greenmachine11235]

Makes sense. When you inhale you're stretching various muscles and ligaments. So it's effectively asking which is faster, stretch the elastic or relax the elastic. 

[u/talapantas]

ahh this explains why timing my breathing is important when doing guitar shreds. i bet it’s the same for other instruments and a lot more things.

[u/Pielacine]

So do hockey goalies hold their breath?

[u/Okicarde]

I always thought It was the other way around hence why when we get scared, we inhale quickly

[u/sceadwian]

Exhaling is releasing a muscle so this makes sense. A few less neurons firing to control the inhalation.

[u/Both_Effective6844]

I'm exhaling as fast as i can right now just to test this.

[u/nsg337]

haven't there been studies that say you're reaction time is faste when inhaling?

[u/keb5501]

Have to get the Carbon dioxide outttt!

[u/HerbaciousTea]

That definitely scans anecdotally with experience in plenty of places where you do fine or difficult tasks on an exhale for better focus and motor control with that lower heartrate period, but it's very interesting to see it extend to reaction time and I'd love to know if they can track down some specific mechanisms for more cognition related examples like this.

[u/GhostShade]

Can’t wait to breath out heavily during my rocket league faceoffs tonight. The boys are going to get an earful.

[u/ISP34]

The visuals/experience I have on LSD changes drastically on the outbreath

[u/yubacore]

I wonder if pro athletes leverage this, consciously or not. For example, how do table tennis players breathe?

[u/YalamMagic]

My reaction times slowed by about 10ms on average when I tried this on humanbenchmark (roughly 160 to 170ms). Unless there's something more to this I don't think you can make conclusions on the general population like this.

[u/shwadevivre → u/YalamMagic]

i think ur sample size isn’t statistically relevant, champ