Novel two-rhythm generator theory of breathing in mammals

摘要

For many years, the prevailing theory has been that the mammalian respiratory network is built in layers like an onion with, at its centre, a single rhythmogenic kernel that controls the timing of inspiration, expiration and airway muscle activity. The smallest anatomically contiguous network of neurones that remains able to generate a respiratory-like rhythmically active circuit was assumed by most investigators to represent this rhythmogenic kernel. A group of neurones with the requisite properties was identified in 1991 within a small region of the ventrolateral medulla in#