EFFECTS OF ABDOMINAL AND THORACIC BREATHING UPON MULTIPLE-SITE ELECTROMYOGRAPHY AND PERIPHERAL SKIN TEMPERATURE

Peripheral finger temperature, frontalis and upper trapezius EMG, and self-report of arousal were assessed for four subjects during abdomina l and thoracic breathing in a single-subject reversal design. Tno subj ects displayed significant differences between abdominal and thoracic breathing conditions: one for frontalis EMG, trapezius EMG, and self-r eport of arousal and one for trapezius EMG.:Two subjects showed no sig nificant effects. All subjects reached performance criteria during tra ining sessions. Abdominal breathing performance during reversals was 1 00% and 92% of sampled breath cycles for the two subjects who showed s ignificant change, and 65% and 42% for the two subjects who showed non e. Methodological issues for measurement of breathing patterns and per ipheral skin temperature are discussed.