The present study was designed to examine the effect of voluntarily sl
owed respiration on the cardiac parasympathetic response to a threat:
the anticipation of an electric shock. Thirty healthy college students
were randomly assigned to the slow, fast, and nonpaced breathing grou
ps (10 subjects each). Subjects in the slow and fast paced breathing g
roups regulated their breathing rate to 8 and 30 cpm, respectively, an
d those in the nonpaced breathing group breathed spontaneously. Immedi
ately after the period of paced or nonpaced breathing for 5 minutes, t
he subjects were exposed for 2 minutes to the anticipation of an elect
ric shock during breathing paced at 15 cpm. The amplitude of the high
frequency (HF) component of the heart rate variability, an index of ca
rdiac parasympathetic tone, significantly decreased during the threat
in the fast and nonpaced breathing groups, whereas it was unchanged in
the slow paced breathing group. No significant difference was observe
d among the three groups in the amplitude of respiration during the th
reat. Results suggest that a slowed respiration decreases the cardiac
parasympathetic withdrawal response to the threat. This study provides
a rationale for the therapeutic uses of the slowed respiration maneuv
er in attenuating the cardiac autonomic responses in patients with anx
iety disorder.