Researchers are discovering that how we breathe might have a surprising effect on brain health.
A new study suggests that controlled breathing and brief exposure to carbon dioxide (CO2) could help the brain clear out waste, including harmful proteins linked to diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
In neurodegenerative diseases, abnormal clumps of proteins—such as alpha-synuclein, amyloid beta, and tau—build up in the brain. These proteins are believed to play a key role in the development and worsening of these illnesses.
Normally, the brain has a waste removal system called the glymphatic pathway that clears out these proteins and other waste. This system works best when we’re in a deep sleep.
A team of researchers from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, the Mind Research Network, and the New Mexico Veterans Affairs Health Care System is now looking at whether it’s possible to boost this waste-clearing system while people are awake.
They’ve been experimenting with a method that involves raising and lowering the amount of carbon dioxide in the blood through rhythmic breathing or short bursts of CO2 exposure.
The study was led by neuropsychologist Dr. Sephira Ryman. Her research focused on whether changes in CO2 levels could help move cerebrospinal fluid—the clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord—through brain tissue. This movement helps remove toxic substances.
Ryman explains that during deep sleep, people breathe more slowly, and the brain produces a wave-like activity called “slow waves.” These waves help push fluid through the brain and support the glymphatic system’s work. However, many people with Parkinson’s disease have trouble sleeping deeply, which may limit their brain’s ability to clear out waste.
In earlier studies, Ryman’s team found that people with Parkinson’s disease had a weaker and slower response to CO2 changes. Their brain blood vessels didn’t respond as quickly or strongly as those in healthy individuals.
To try to fix this, the researchers designed an experiment where people breathed air with slightly higher amounts of CO2 in short ON and OFF cycles.
They found that this method made the brain’s blood vessels respond in a rhythmic way, similar to what happens during deep sleep. Even more exciting, they detected signs that toxic proteins were being flushed from the brain into the bloodstream after these sessions.
This is the first sign that raising CO2 in a controlled way could help stimulate the brain’s natural cleaning system—even while a person is awake.
In another paper, Ryman and her colleagues suggest that breathing practices found in yoga, tai chi, qigong, and similar disciplines might offer similar benefits.
These practices involve slow, deep, and rhythmic breathing, which could help move cerebrospinal fluid through the brain. This may explain why these traditional exercises are not only calming but may also support long-term brain health.
They also propose that rhythmic CO2 exposure might become a new way to directly boost the glymphatic system in people with or at risk for neurodegenerative diseases.
This growing area of research is still in its early stages, but the results are promising. With more studies, we may soon learn how something as simple as breathing could help protect our brains from memory loss and diseases like Parkinson’s.
If you care about Alzheimer’s disease, please read studies that bad lifestyle habits can cause Alzheimer’s disease, and strawberries can be good defence against Alzheimer’s.
For more information about brain health, please see recent studies that oral cannabis extract may help reduce Alzheimer’s symptoms, and Vitamin E may help prevent Parkinson’s disease.
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