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- Title
The temporal relationship between non-respiratory burst activity of expiratory laryngeal motoneurons and phrenic apnoea during stimulation of the superior laryngeal nerve in rat.
- Authors
Sun, Qi-Jian; Bautista, Tara G.; Berkowitz, Robert G.; Zhao, Wen-Jing; Pilowsky, Paul M.
- Abstract
Nerve fibres in the larynx detect foreign substances and elicit a stereotypical airway protective response that can be simulated by electrical stimulation of the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN). In humans the response includes cough, swallowing and a cessation of breathing (apnoea). It is still unknown precisely how the central nervous system coordinates swallowing and breathing, and at which point the two vital systems converge and diverge in the brain. Here we report a temporal, sequential relationship between excitation of expiratory laryngeal motoneurons that close the larynx during swallowing, and inhibition of breathing, during stimulation of the SLN in rat. The two phenomena can be dissociated by inactivating different brain areas. This work therefore has implications for diseases such as sudden infant death syndrome and Parkinson's disease, in which incoordination of breathing and protective behaviours may result in aspiration of irritants and subsequent death or aspiration pneumonia.
- Publication
Journal of Physiology, 2011, Vol 589, Issue 7, p1819
- ISSN
0022-3751
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1113/jphysiol.2010.203794