The Body, Brain, and Cognition (BBC) Lab at the University of Hull investigates how bodily states and physiological rhythms, particularly breathing, sleep, and eye and pupil movements, interact with brain activity, perception, attention, memory, and wellbeing.
Breathing is more than gas exchange. Its pathways, rhythms and variability are closely linked to brain activity and bodily arousal. We study how these relationships shape attention and memory, and how cognitive demands in turn change the way we breathe.
Current themes
- Breathing, eye movements, and attention: How visual attention, oculomotor dynamics, pupil state, and memory encoding vary across inhalation and exhalation, and how breathing coordinates with cognitive tasks.
- Nasal versus oral breathing: How the route of breathing affects visual search and memory consolidation across wakefulness and rest.
- Brain and respiratory coupling: Using neuroimaging and physiological recordings to study how breathing rhythms and sighs interact with cortical dynamics, arousal, and task performance.
- Individual differences and respiratory signatures: How stable a person’s breathing patterns are across days, tasks, and rest, and how respiratory traits relate to cognition, sleep, and wellbeing in large cohorts.
- Respiratory measurement: Validating respiratory belt recordings and phase estimation against reference airflow measures.
Methods
We combine laboratory experiments and large neuroimaging and physiological cohorts, using respiratory recording, eye tracking, and brain imaging to study how bodily and neural states shape cognition.
Lab outputs and theses
- Richards, B., Holle, H., & Lindsay, S. (2025). Does oral breathing disrupt memory consolidation during waking rest? A registered report. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology.
- Roberts, T. E., Richards, B., Skarratt, P. A., Fischer, M. H., & Lindsay, S. (2026). Respiratory phase and visuospatial attention: A replication and extension. PsyArXiv.
- Richards, B., Skarratt, P., Holle, H., & Lindsay, S. (under review). The impact of oral and nasal breathing on visual search performance: A pre registered replication and extension.
- Bethanie Richards (PhD, 2025). The Influence of Breathing Pathway on Cognitive Processes.
- Timothy Roberts (MRes, 2026). The Influence of Respiratory Cycles on Visuospatial Attention.
- Alfie Hunt (MSc by Thesis, 2021). The Impact of Breathing Phase on Encoding, Memory, and Oculomotor Activity.
Joining the lab
If you are interested in a PhD, MRes, or undergraduate research project in the lab, get in touch.