Although it’s been well-known for a long time that slow breathing can have a calming effect on emotions and rapid breathing makes you anxious, science didn’t know exactly why. Earlier this past year, researchers just figured out how breathing directly calms your brain through what’s being called the “breathing pacemaker.”

The breathing pacemaker is a group of neurons at the base of the brain stem and was first discovered in mice back in 1991. It has since been identified and studied in humans. It wasn’t until recently though that its link to emotions, breathing rate, and arousal was understood.

In a mouse study, the group of neurons at the base of the rodents’ brain stems was found to directly connect to the arousal center in the brain. When the scientists “silenced” certain neurons in the mice’s breathing pacemakers giving them “at-rest’ breathing patterns, they remained chill even when put in situations that would normally stress them out.

Turns out, these neurons have a direct line to the brain’s arousal center and can either tell the brain there’s an emergency and set off the body’s alarms, or keep it on an even keel, maintaining a sense of calm. When you intentionally slow your breathing down, these neurons don’t send the panic signal.

The newly discovered neural pathways could be potential targets for better drugs to help alleviate stress and anxiety in the future.

Your breath is your remote control to calm your brain and body.