OREA Exams and Your Parasympathetic Nerve System

Get a little uptight before an exam? Most people do. You’ve probably heard this before: Practice deep breathing for relaxation. Research suggests that deep, controlled breathing not only injects more oxygen to the brain (which is always good), but also stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (which handles stress . . . you know that old fight or flight issue). Some even claim that ongoing deep breathing exercises may increase brain size. Gives a whole new meaning to having a swelled head. Joking aside, there’s lots of internet sites about deep breathing. We don’t know whether deep breathing will help when you’re busy answering Passit MCQs, but it can’t hurt. If you do the deep breathing, we’ll provide the practice.