United States: Researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science claim to be able to recognize individuals by their nasal breathing patterns alone, with an accuracy of 96.8%.
This pioneering research discovered that these nasal respiratory “fingerprints” are highly distinctive in that they can be used to identify individuals with the same success as voice recognition.
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According to the scientists, they have discovered the intimate connection between the brain and the breath that would provide insights into the physical and mental health of people, including their body mass index, depression, and anxiety.
According to a PhD student, Timna Soroka, a member of the Olfaction Research Group, in an email to The Times of Israel, “Are we depressed and therefore breathe differently, or do we breathe in a certain way that makes us feel depressed?” timesofisrael.com reported.
Soroka mentioned that the study represented if it is true that people breathe in a way that leads to depression, “then this opens the door to new interventions and treatments based on breath.”
A new study in @LabWorg showed that people have individual “respiratory fingerprints.” It also revealed that these patterns reflect physiological states like arousal or BMI, and mental states such as anxiety or depression>> https://t.co/Mn60yXYmI2 pic.twitter.com/nsCoM7KlcS
— Weizmann Institute (@WeizmannScience) June 12, 2025
The scientists of the Olfaction Research Group have their focus on discovering the neurobiological basis of the sense of smell, also called olfactory processing, and the influence of this sensory perception on human health and behavior.
Inhalation activates the brain in receiving odor information in mammals. This connection between the brain and breathing made the scientists ask themselves the following question: As no two brains are exactly alike, would each person not have a unique pattern of breathing?
“You would think that breathing has been measured and analyzed in every way,” according to Sobel; however, they also wanted to explore the hypothesis that breathing patterns may identify an individual.
The majority of breathing tests take 1-20 minutes and aim at testing the functioning of the lungs or identifying diseases.
The researchers thought that such short “snapshots” were not sufficient to detect the subtle patterns of breathing and thus created a lightweight wearable device that measures nasal airflow throughout the day and night (24 hours) with soft tubes inserted in the nostrils, timesofisrael.com reported.
“As far as we know,” as per Soroka, “we developed a new way to study respiration. Not over short durations, but rather as a long-term time series.”
The device was applied by Sobel and his team on 100 young adults- all of them fulfilled diagnostic requirements of mental and behavioral health- and were requested to continue with their daily routines.