Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 May 2025
Respiratory regulation comprises respiratory rhythmogenesis, formation of the respiratory motor pattern, control of blood oxygen and carbon dioxide, increase of minute ventilation during physical activity, adaptation of respiration to the sleep-wake cycle, coordination of breathing with swallowing, cough, sneezing, choking and voluntary activity such as speech or singing. Other factors such as growth and maturation, emotion, pregnancy, injury, disease, body temperature, pain and aging lead to changes in respiration. The presence of a respiratory rhythm generator in the brainstem is now known to be a common feature of all vertebrates. Knowledge about respiratory regulation is mainly derived from animal models, but respiratory regulation in humans is subject to an increasing number of physiological, electrophysiological, neuroradiographic, histopathological and genetic studies. This chapter provides an overview of respiratory regulation, focused on neuroanatomical, neurophysiological and clinical apsects.
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