Could humans' unique nasal 'fingerprints' give us information about our health?

A caller investigation insubstantial published Thursday successful nan diary Current Biology suggests that humans person unsocial breathing patterns, almost for illustration nasal "fingerprints." Not only that: These unsocial breathing patterns look to opportunity a batch astir people's beingness and intelligence health. artpartner-images/Getty Images hide caption

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A caller investigation insubstantial published Thursday successful nan diary Current Biology suggests that humans person unsocial breathing patterns, almost for illustration nasal "fingerprints." Not only that: These unsocial breathing patterns look to opportunity a batch astir people's beingness and intelligence health.

artpartner-images/Getty Images

Take a large inhale done your nose. Now, exhale.

Breathing whitethorn look simple, but it's controlled by a analyzable encephalon network. Each inhale gives nan quality encephalon accusation astir nan outer world. And now, a caller investigation insubstantial successful nan diary Current Biology suggests that humans person unsocial breathing patterns, almost for illustration nasal "fingerprints."

One of nan study authors, neurobiologist Noam Sobel says nan thought that group mightiness person these individual patterns isn't wholly novel.

"Many things are very communal crossed each our brains, but astatine nan extremity of nan day, you person your unsocial brain," Sobel says. "And since truthful overmuch of nan encephalon is progressive successful this process, we hypothesize that, therefore, respiration would besides beryllium unique."

But researchers didn't person a measurement to trial this mentation — until PhD student Timna Soroka and Sobel's squad astatine nan Weizmann Institute of Science developed a caller device.

It looks for illustration a mini oxygen tube. For nan study, 100 participants wore continuously for 24 hours while they went astir their regular activities. When nan researchers analyzed nan data, they saw that each personification had a different nasal airflow pattern.

They besides saw that those breathing patterns could foretell measures of beingness and intelligence health, for illustration sleep, worry and depression.

Sobel says this penetration opens up a chicken-and-egg problem: Namely, whether changing the measurement a personification breathes could alteration health.

"The measurement cooler result is not 'you respire this measurement because you're depressed,' but rather, 'you're depressed because you respire this way,'" he says. "And if that's existent ... tin we thatch you to breathe, you know, to beryllium little depressed aliases to aliases to beryllium little anxious?"

While researchers wouldn't urge you clasp your your activity until they find which is true, nan study is arsenic a bully reminder to return a infinitesimal to respire today.

Questions astir nan subject down your encephalon and body? Email america astatine shortwave@npr.org – we'd emotion to perceive your ideas!

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This section was produced by Berly McCoy and Jeffrey Pierre. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez, Justine Kenin and Christopher Intagliata. Tyler Jones checked nan facts. The audio technologist was Tiffany Vera-Castro.