From Breath to Behavior: Respiratory Features Predict Visual Detection Performance

Abstract

Breathing is a continuous bodily rhythm that not only sustains physiology but also shapes brain function and behavior. Here we investigated how respiration interacts with perceptual performance in nonhuman primates performing a visual detection task. Using continuous recordings, we extracted detailed features from each respiratory cycle including timing, duration, phase, depth, and volume, aligned to trial onset. Analyses revealed that timing-related features, such as inhalation onset and the respiration length, were the most reliable markers of trial outcome, whereas amplitude-based measures contributed less consistently. These findings demonstrate that the temporal structure of breathing, rather than its magnitude, plays a dominant role in shaping behavior on a moment-to-moment basis. By uncovering how fine-grained features of respiration align with perceptual success, our work highlights respiration as a strong correlate of cognition and highlights the value of feature-based approaches for linking interoceptive rhythms to behavior.