The rhythm of our breath fluctuates depending on what we do and how we are. For example, when we sleep, we breathe differently than when we do sports or are in a dangerous situation. Despite these fluctuations, every person has a unique respiratory pattern that is as individual as a fingerprint. In the experiment, scientists were able to identify people based solely on their breathing rhythm – with an accuracy of 96.8 percent. The individual characteristics of the nasal air flow can therefore be used for biometric person recognition. In addition, they give insights into the physical and mental health of a person, as further tests revealed.
We breathe in and out countless times a day and night. As a rule, we do this unconsciously and automatically. However, the breathing process is a highly coordinated process, the rhythm of which is precisely controlled by our brain. Depending on what we do and how much oxygen our body needs, the brain adapts the breath pace. Conversely, breathing can also influence our brain activity. In view of this mutual clock function, the question arises: Since every brain is unique, does this also apply to the respiratory pattern of every person?
Personal recognition by nasal breathing
Researchers around Timna Soroka from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel investigated this question. To do this, they developed a light device with soft hoses in the neck, which are placed under the nostrils. This apparatus can continuously track the nostril for up to 24 hours, separated to the nostril. Soroka and her colleagues repeatedly equipped 97 young adults with the device for over two years and let them go on their everyday life for 24 hours. In the long -term data collected in this way, they then searched for patterns in breathing using artificial intelligence and compared them between the test subjects. They taken into account a total of 20 parameters, including duration of inhalation and exhalation, volume of inhalation and exhalation as well as regularity of breathing rooms.
The experiment showed that breathing is actually extremely individual, stable over a longer period of time and as unique as a fingerprint. “I thought it would be really difficult to identify someone because everyone does other things, like running, learning or resting,” says Soroka. “But it turned out that the respiratory patterns were remarkably different.” Based on the personal “nasal air-air flow fingerprints”, the researchers were able to identify the test subjects with an accuracy of 96.8 percent. This means that biometric personal recognition is as precise as you explain by breath test as precisely as you explain.
Respiratory pattern also reveals health status
In addition, Soroka and her colleagues discovered a connection between the respiratory fingerprint and various health features of the test subjects-including the body mass index, the sleep-wake cycle, the extent of depression and anxiety as well as behavioral features. For example, with participants who showed relatively strong signs of fear in questionnaires, the inhalation during sleep was shorter and the breaks between the breaths for different lengths. This indicates that long -term monitoring of nasal air flow can be examined by a patient’s physical and mental well -being. “We come to the conclusion that long -term patterns of the nostril reflect the drivers of breathing in the brain because they are individually unique and have a significant impact on health, emotions and perception,” said the team.
Breathing could therefore provide information about possible diseases – and possible starting points for your treatment. “We intuitively assume that depression or fears change the way we breathe,” says senior author Noam Sobel from the Weizmann Institute of Science. “But it could also be the other way around. Maybe the way we breathe makes us anxious or depressed.” If this is confirmed, breathing therapy could possibly help with anxiety disorders. Soroka and your team are now pursuing these questions in a follow -up study.
In addition, the researchers want to optimize the measuring device and build a more discredited variant for everyday use. Because many people probably don’t want to wear visible hoses under their nose in their everyday life. In addition, the device can slip while sleeping and only takes into account the nose, but not the mouth breathing.
Source: Timna Soroka (Weizmann Institute of Science) et al.; Current biology, DOI: 10.1016/J.CUB.2025.05.008
