Each month our editorial team sifts through hundreds of papers and curates notable findings—for practitioners and informed readers who want to stay current with the evidence. Subscribe to the monthly Research Digest for expert analysis and concise summaries of key papers.
10 papers
Researchers followed 100 outpatients (mean age 62) who kept having dizziness. They found that problems of the vestibular system (inner ear and balance) and psychiatric disorders were the most common causes. About half the patients had more than one factor making dizziness worse, and life‑threatening causes were rare.
In a remote, randomized trial (NCT05304000), people did one of three five-minute daily breathing exercises or five minutes of mindfulness meditation each day for one month. The researchers measured mood, anxiety, and physiological arousal (breathing rate, heart rate, and heart rate variability). Breathwork—especially exhale-focused cyclic sighing—produced bigger mood gains and…
This 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis pooled data from 223 studies to see if voluntary slow breathing (VSB) changes heart rate variability that reflects parasympathetic (vagal) control of the heart. The authors found that VSB increased vagally-mediated heart rate variability during breathing sessions, right after a single session, and after…
In a randomized trial of 20 healthy adults, researchers recorded EKGs during a 3-minute baseline, a 15-minute massage, and a 3-minute postmassage period. Moderate pressure massage raised the high-frequency (HF) heart-rate variability measure and lowered the LF/HF ratio, which the authors say indicates increased parasympathetic (vagal) activity peaking in the…
This clinical trial tested one session of deep and slow breathing (DSB) in 47 adults (22 older, 25 younger). After the single DSB session, high-frequency (HF) heart rate variability increased and self-reported state anxiety went down in both age groups. The rise in HF power was significantly larger in older…
This small cross-sectional study compared 33 regular yoga practitioners with 35 non‑practitioners aged 17–30. The yoga group had a lower resting heart rate (about 69 vs 81 bpm) and a smaller blood‑pressure response on the sustained handgrip test (about 10.2 vs 16.3), differences the authors report as statistically significant. Other…
This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study tested a mushroom blend containing Cordyceps militaris (4 g/day) in 28 young, recreationally active adults. After one week there were no clear group differences on most lab tests, but analysis of confidence intervals showed time-to-exhaustion (TTE) increased by about 28 seconds in the mushroom group.…
Researchers studied 28 teaching professionals who wore a device for three days to record heart rate and steps and who completed questionnaires for burnout, depression, and everyday executive function. People who met criteria for burnout had more problems with executive functions in daily life, higher average heart rates, lower heart-rate…
This study tested how slow versus fast breathing affects anxiety and brain activity. Twenty-seven people did breathing and threat-uncertainty tasks while their brain activity was measured with EEG. Slow breathing reduced anxiety and led to different EEG patterns than fast breathing. In particular, slow breathing raised EEG power across several…
This small observational study checked mood and heart-rate measures before and after one 40-minute seated Himalayan singing bowl (HSB) sound-bath. After the session, 77 people reported higher positive affect and lower negative affect on the PANAS mood survey. A smaller group (17) filling the POMS survey reported less tension, anger,…
