Manipulating the perception of time affects voluntary breath-holding duration

Abstract

In this study, we examined how time perception, a psychological factor, impacts the physiological response to prolonged, voluntary breath holding. Participants (n = 26) held their breath while watching a distorted timer that made it appear as though time was moving up to 40% faster or slower than real time. We monitored total breath-holding duration under different time manipulation conditions as well as the onset of involuntary breathing movements. This physiological breaking point marks the end of the "easy-going" phase of apnea and the start of the "struggle" phase. Based on prior work showing that psychological factors, such as attention and motivation, can influence the length of the struggle phase, we hypothesized that manipulating the perception of time would affect overall breath-holding duration by changing the duration of the struggle phase, but not the easy-going phase. We found that time perception can be successfully manipulated using a distorted timekeeper, and total breath-holding duration correlated with perceived time, not actual time. Contrary to our hypothesis, this effect was attributable to changes in the onset of the physiological breaking point, not changes in the length of the struggle phase. These results demonstrate that unconscious psychological factors and cognitive processes can significantly influence fundamental physiological processes.

Keywords: breath holding; involuntary breathing movements; psychology; time perception.

Conflict of interest statement

We have no conflicts of interest.

© 2019 The Authors. Physiological Reports published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Physiological Society and the American Physiological Society.

Figures

Figure 1

Example of thoracic movements during a breath hold (arbitrary units). Point a shows the chest expansion prior to beginning a breath hold. Point b indicates the onset of involuntary breathing movements, or the physiological breaking point. Point c indicates chest expansion at the termination of apnea. From Point a to Point b represents the duration of the “easy‐going” phase. From Point b to Point c represents the duration of the “struggle” phase

Figure 2

Time manipulation affects the perception of time. Each grey line represents data from one individual (n = 11 females, 14 males, 1 unspecified). The significant (p = .002) fitted regression line (±SE) from the mixed model regression is shown with a thick black line. A dotted black line indicates a 1:1 relationship between time manipulation and time perception

Figure 3

Time manipulation affects the overall breath‐hold duration and the duration of the easy‐going phase, but not the duration of the struggle phase. Each line represents data from one individual (n = 11 females, 14 males, 1 unspecified). Significant fitted regression lines (p = .001 and p = .042 for a and b, respectively) are shown with a thick black line (±SE). A non‐significant regression line (p = .187) is shown with a thick dashed line (c)