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Updated: Jun 25, 2026
05:28
Electrophysiology on Isolated Brainstem-spinal Cord Preparations from Newborn Rodents Allows Neural Respiratory Network Output Recording
Published on: November 19, 2015
Central control of cardiorespiratory interactions in fish
Edwin W Taylor1, Cleo A C Leite, Jennifer J Levings
1School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. E.W.Taylor@bham.ac.uk
Acta Histochemica
|February 6, 2009
Summary
Fish use their nervous system to link breathing and heart rate for efficient gas exchange. This cardiorespiratory interaction is modulated by respiration, optimizing oxygen uptake in aquatic environments.
Area of Science:
- Physiology
- Comparative Biology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Fish regulate water and blood flow over gills for optimal gas exchange.
- Cardiorespiratory interactions in fish are primarily controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system via cardiac vagal neurons.
- Respiration-related bursts in efferent cardiac vagus activity suggest a link between breathing and heart rate.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cardiorespiratory interactions in fish.
- To understand how respiration rhythm modulates heart rate in fish.
- To explore the neural mechanisms underlying these interactions in different fish groups.
Main Methods:
- Recording efferent activity in the cardiac vagus.
- Stimulating the cardiac vagus and cranial nerves to observe heart rate changes.
- Analyzing respiration-related neural activity in fish brainstems.
Main Results:
- Phasic efferent activity in cardiac vagi is respiration-related and modulates heart rate.
- In elasmobranchs, feed-forward interactions with respiratory motor neurons are primary.
- In teleosts, reflex stimulation of orobranchial receptors increases efferent vagal activity.
Conclusions:
- Fish heart rate is modulated by the respiratory rhythm through neural control.
- Both feed-forward and feed-back mechanisms contribute to cardiorespiratory interactions in fish.
- While emphasis differs, both elasmobranch and teleost fish exhibit integrated cardiorespiratory control.
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