Research Projects

Breathing is a vital rhythmic motor behavior in mammals, regulated by the breathing central pattern generator (bCPG) in the brainstem. The bCPG generates the inspiratory rhythm and is responsive to signals from blood and brain sensors, mechanoreceptors in the lungs, and other brain centers associated with cognition and emotion. The principal regulatory mechanism consists of chemosensory feedback from chemoreceptors that sense O? and CO?/pH and mechanosensory feedback from pulmonary stretch receptors. However, the integration of multisensory feedback for breathing regulation remains unexplored. These multisensory interactions get dysregulated under many pulmonary pathologies, impacting human health and mortality. For example, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection causes apnea, and SARS-CoV2 infection causes silent hypoxia in a significant fraction of COVID-19 patients. The hypothesis is that under these conditions, inhibitory drive from hyperactivated pulmonary stretch receptors counteracts the chemosensory excitatory drive to preBötC, increasing the threshold for preBöptC rhythmic activity to convert into a breathing pattern. The project aims to uncover the modulation of preBötC dynamics under physiological challenges and understand how chemosensory and mechanosensory inputs interact to regulate bCPG dynamics. The study will use mice as a model system, where protocols for studying neural control of breathing are well established. Understanding the integration of these inputs at the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS) and subsequent regulation of preBötC dynamics is essential to understanding multisensory integration in bCPG.