Respiratory oscillations in chemoreceptor discharge in the control of breathing

Abstract

A respiratory centre responds with short latency and short after-discharge to short bursts of impulses in peripheral chemoreceptor afférents. The response depends on the phase of the respiration at which the burst of impulses is set up: the ongoing activity of the respiratory centre is intensified. When the phase relation between oscillations in chemoreceptor discharge at the frequency of lung ventilation and the discharge of the respiratory centre was altered experimentally, the discharge of the centre was altered. The phase relation may change with exercise and so be of importance in determining ventilation in exercise. The applicability of these observations in cats to other animals is considered and it is found that the observed relations that V̇ O 2 is proportional to W 0.73, and respiratory frequency, f, is proportional to W −0.27 make the phase relations between certain parameters that vary with respiration independent of body size.