Nov
6
Mon
CBD Summit: Neurobiology of Breathing and Tranquility @ Bishop Auditorium, Lathrop Library
Nov 6 @ 5:45 pm – 7:00 pm
CBD Summit: Neurobiology of Breathing and Tranquility @ Bishop Auditorium, Lathrop Library | Stanford | California | United States

Presenter: Kevin Yackle, MD, PhD
Sandler Faculty Fellow, Physiology
University of California – San Francisco

Breathing practices are acknowledged as a central component of contemplation. While seemingly simple, breathing is generated by a small cluster of several thousand neurons in the brainstem. Despite its importance, science still does not understand how the brain generates the breathing rhythm. Research by Dr. Kevin Yackle and others has classified the breathing pacemaker neurons into dozens of molecularly distinct cell types with the ambition of identifying the key types that generate the rhythm. To their surprise, in 2017, Yackle and his colleagues identified ~175 neurons that, instead of contributing to breathing rhythm generation, instead relay the breathing signal to a higher order brain center that controls arousal, anxiety, and attention. Their studies provide a plausible explanation for how slow breathing calms us while fast breathing creates anxiety.

Instructor: Kevin Yackle, MD, PhD, Stanford University, 2016. His PhD thesis work focused on understanding how the brain generates the breathing rhythm. He is currently continuing this work in his own lab in the Physiology Department at UCSF as a Sandler Faculty Fellow.

Register for this event here.

This event is part of Contemplation By Design’s week-long Summit to further balance, tranquility, resilience, and creative excellence. CBD Summit participants will have the opportunity to take a break from their high-level output of productivity and innovation in order to rest and renew the mind-body-spirit. More information can be found on the CBD 2017 Summit brochure (contemplation.stanford.edu/assets/pdfs/CBD_2017.pdf) and the CBD website (contemplation.stanford.edu).