[Respiratory regulation during neuronal hyperactivation of the respiratory center]

The responses of breathing and of respiratory neurons to microinjections of penicillin into the respiratory center area were studied in anesthetized and spontaneously breathing rats. The injections caused different alterations of the respiration, of the activity of respiratory neurons and their spatial distribution, and initiated respiratory moments of apneustic and gasping types. the hyperactivation of the respiratory center neurons by penicillin seems to cause a reversible development of pathological types of respiration.