====== Sighing ======

A sigh is defined as a kind of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paralanguage|paralinguistic]] respiration in the form of a deep, audible, single exhalation of air out of the mouth or nose.

Sighing may have purely physiological triggers (see: [[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301051109001884|Respiratory variability preceding and following sighs: A resetter hypothesis]]{{:oa_padlock_red.png?16}} <sup>[ paywalled ] </sup>in: //Biological Psychology, //Volume 84, Issue 1, Pages 82-87),  or may arise from negative emotion, i.e. from feelings such as dismay, dissatisfaction, boredom, or futility.

According to a [[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/psyp.12396/full|2014 study]] in the //Psychophysiology// journal :

>__"How dimensions of emotion affect respiratory regulation assessed by respiratory variability and sighing is unknown."__

There are also theories that sighs could be functioning as signals to convey emotional states to others :

>[they are] often unintentional expressions of an activity, plan or desire that has to be discarded, creating a pause before it can be replaced by a novel initiative."\\ \\ Source : [[http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-9450.2007.00599.x/full|Scandinavian Journal of Psychology]] {{:oa_padlock_red.png?16}} <sup>[ paywalled ] </sup>

and :

>[...] in contrast to largely involuntary respiratory acts like yawning or sneezing, sighing is wholly manipulable, which suggests that its occurrence in interaction may be purposeful."\\ \\ Source :  [[http://journals.linguisticsociety.org/proceedings/index.php/BLS/article/view/3870|Berkeley Linguistics Society Journal, 29]] {{:oa_padlock_grn.png?16&nolink|open access}}

Further extensive technical information [[https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24746045/|The integrative role of the sigh in psychology, physiology, pathology, and neurobiology]] {{:oa_padlock_grn.png?18}}//Progress in brain research.// 2014;209:91-129.

----

Also see : [[content:life_sciences:human_body:yawning]] and [[content:life_sciences:zoology:respiratory_rhythm]]