Data from: Sensing, feeling, and regulating: Investigating the association of focal brain damage with voluntary respiratory and motor control

Breathing is a complex, vital function that can be modulated to influence
physical and mental well-being. However, the role of cortical and
subcortical brain regions in voluntary control of human respiration is
underexplored. Here we investigated the influence of damage to human
frontal, temporal, or limbic regions on the sensation and regulation of
breathing patterns. Participants performed a respiratory regulation task
across regular and irregular frequencies ranging from 6 to 60 breaths per
minute (bpm), with a counterbalanced hand motor control task.
Interoceptive and affective states induced by each condition were assessed
via questionnaire and autonomic signals were indexed via skin conductance.
Participants with focal lesions to the bilateral frontal lobe, right
insula/basal ganglia, and left medial temporal lobe demonstrated
significantly lower performance than individually matched healthy
comparisons during the breathing and motor tasks. They also reported
significantly higher anxiety during the 60-bpm regular and irregular
breathing trials than healthy participants. Correlations between task
performance, anxiety, and difficulty varied across experimental conditions
and groups. This study demonstrates that damage to frontal, temporal, or
limbic regions is associated with abnormal voluntary respiratory and motor
regulation and tachypnea-related anxiety, highlighting the role of the
forebrain in affective and motor responses during breathing.