Researchers have identified a specific part of the brain that may play a key role in high blood pressure.
This area, called the lateral parafacial region, is located in the brainstem, the oldest part of the brain responsible for automatic functions like breathing, digestion, and heart rate.
“The lateral parafacial region is recruited into action causing us to exhale during a laugh, exercise or coughing,” says lead researcher Professor Julian Paton, director of Manaaki Manawa, Centre for Heart Research at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.
“These exhalations are what we call ‘forced’ and driven by our powerful abdominal muscles.
“In contrast, a normal exhalation does not need these muscles to contract, it happens because the lungs are elastic.”
How Breathing and Blood Pressure Are Connected
The team found…