Is Brain Respiration a hoax?

December 7, 2004 1:00 AM

Is Brain Respiration yet another New Age-y hoax, or what? (+)

The enthusiasm and anecdotal quality of this article from the Guardian weirded me out. It's not the usual disinterested report you expect in a major publication. I've never heard of Brain Respiration before. And the thought of actually plowing through all the google links makes my brain cry out for oxygen.

Yet, still...I expect the Guardian to vet these things before opening up the gusher. So, dear Mefi community, is there anything to it? Anybody have anything good, bad or indifferent to report about (I cringe at the locution) "Brain Respiration"?

posted by mono blanco to religion & philosophy (7 answers total)

I agree, it really is weird that the Guardian would so unreservedly recommend this treatment, especially when they've made such a big commitment on informed science reporting. I've never heard of Brain Respiration before and about three months ago, I was a neuroscientist. The thing that bothers me about the article is that there is absolutely no mention of how Brain Respiration might work. There's a bit of talk about the results it might produce, e.g.:

The children who had undergone BR training showed a greater EEG amplitude in the frontal, temporal and occiputal cortexes than the control group. In the BR trainees there was also "remarkable high amplitude alpha coherence all over the scalp," possibly suggesting that BR training positively influences emotional behaviour and learning ability

Now, I don't claim to be an expert in interpreting human EEGs, but I do know a thing or two about them and just because you see 'high amplitude alpha coherence all over the scalp' by no means suggests that BR could do, well, anything at all.

My gut feeling is that at best, it works on the same level as acupuncture, which has been shown to have a positive impact on health, and at worst, it's a load of unproven rubbish. Too little information to make a decision and the Guardian should be ashamed of themselves for publishing such a light article on this sort of subject.
posted by adrianhon at 1:57 AM on December 7, 2004

Here I thought this was going to be a nifty autotrephination link, and instead it's about "honesty, integrity, and responsibility."

What a disappointment.
posted by ikkyu2 at 6:18 AM on December 7, 2004

So. It's a form of meditation.

I think you need to look at it like every other active form of meditation, whether it's Yoga or Tai Chi. They do something, but it's hard to quantify.
posted by taumeson at 7:55 AM on December 7, 2004

al, ikkyu2, have you read this?

i think that's the right link...i'm not going to open it at work.

</derail>
posted by taumeson at 7:56 AM on December 7, 2004

well, the guardian also ran an article all about the "joys" of colonic cleansing retreats a couple of years back, which the medical community also considers to be bunk, so why no capitalize on another new agey phenomenon and get a bunch of readers again?
posted by Hackworth at 10:57 AM on December 7, 2004

Well, the copy on the brainrespiration.com web site sure makes it seem like a New Age-y hoax. Could they be any more oblique?
posted by mr_roboto at 12:30 PM on December 7, 2004

I know some people who do a form of korean "yoga" (obviously not yoga in the indian sense, but analogous), and they have a meditation practice called brain respiration. It's meditation. Useful to the same degree as other forms of breathing and mental exercises. Which is to say, I think it can be a positive thing, but it's directly related to how you go about doing it (ie, it's not like taking a pill - you have to actively get something out of it).

New agey "hoaxes", imo, are the result of people misunderstanding the purposes of certain exercises. Meditation will not allow you to levitate or develop super powers. It can help you to strengthen your inner character, identity, integrity and personal "presence" - these words all sound cliche, but, well, use whatever descriptives work for you: the point is that concentrating your energy toward fulfilling your own potential is worthwhile. Developing that "inner smile" is not unlike 'developing' charisma or confidence (not self-promoting risk taking, but strong comfort with what you are). So. There are many semi-metaphorical routes that can help develop this, or you can get to it in completely alternate ways (eg, nietzsche...) but it's just an attempt at personal development & inner strength/clarity.
posted by mdn at 2:08 PM on December 7, 2004