Cigarettes, Respiratory Rate, and the Relaxation Paradox

Abstract

Recent research indicates that individuals differ in their physiological reactions to nicotine, some showing strong increases in heart rate within 1 min of beginning to smoke and others showing little or no heart rate change with smoking. In the present research, monitoring of the respiratory rates of these two types of smokers before, during, and after smoking revealed that the former show an increase in respiratory rate while smoking, whereas the latter show a decrease. It is suggested that these changes in respiratory rate, a relatively easily monitored bodily function, may provide the cues used by smokers for inferring the effect that smoking has on them, that is, stimulating versus relaxing.