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Updated: Apr 23, 2026
Electrophysiology on Isolated Brainstem-spinal Cord Preparations from Newborn Rodents Allows Neural Respiratory Network Output Recording
Published on: November 19, 2015
Neural mechanisms underlying respiratory rhythm generation in the lamprey
Fulvia Bongianni1, Donatella Mutolo1, Elenia Cinelli1
1Dipartimento di Medicina Sperimentale e Clinica, Sezione Scienze Fisiologiche, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Viale G.B. Morgagni 63, 50134 Firenze, Italy.
Abstract:
The isolated brainstem of the adult lamprey spontaneously generates respiratory activity. The paratrigeminal respiratory group (pTRG), the proposed respiratory central pattern generator, has been anatomically and functionally characterized. It is sensitive to opioids, neurokinins and acetylcholine. Excitatory amino acids, but not GABA and glycine, play a crucial role in the respiratory rhythmogenesis. These results are corroborated by immunohistochemical data. While only GABA exerts an important modulatory control on the pTRG, both GABA and glycine markedly influence the respiratory frequency via neurons projecting from the vagal motoneuron region to the pTRG. Noticeably, the removal of GABAergic transmission within the pTRG causes the resumption of rhythmic activity during apnea induced by blockade of glutamatergic transmission. The same result is obtained by microinjections of substance P or nicotine into the pTRG during apnea. The results prompted us to present some considerations on the phylogenesis of respiratory pattern generation. They may also encourage comparative studies on the basic mechanisms underlying respiratory rhythmogenesis of vertebrates.
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