[Article] Modulatory dynamics of periodic and aperiodic activity in respiration-brain coupling
Summary: This study utilized resting-state MEG and EEG data from 78 participants to investigate the previously unstudied link between respiration and aperiodic neural activity, specifically the 1/f slope which serves as a marker for the excitation-inhibition (E:I) balance. The authors discovered that fluctuations in the aperiodic slope are significantly phase-locked to the respiratory cycle, with flatter slopes (indicating higher excitation) occurring during inspiration and steeper slopes (indicating higher inhibition) during expiration, particularly over parieto-occipital regions. These findings demonstrate that respiration acts as a physiological modulator of spontaneous brain state shifts and that this coupling to aperiodic activity follows distinct temporal dynamics compared to periodic oscillatory activity.