Amygdala-driven apnea: A breath of fresh air in respiratory neurobiology
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Updated: Sep 30, 2025

Electrophysiology on Isolated Brainstem-spinal Cord Preparations from Newborn Rodents Allows Neural Respiratory Network Output Recording
Published on: November 19, 2015
Richard Kinkead1, Marianne Gagnon1, Marie-Claude Carrier1
1Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie et de Pneumologie de Québec, Département de Pédiatrie, Université Laval, Québec, QC, Canada.
Abstract:
The amygdala is mainly known for its role in the pathogenesis of anxiety and the initiation of fear responses. However, there is growing evidence showing that the amygdala's ability to respond to internal stimuli such as CO2 is limited, thereby challenging its role in the brain-behavior relationship. Based on these results and the strong inhibitory connections between the central nucleus of the amygdala and key brainstem areas regulating the reflexive respiratory responses to CO2, Feinstein et al. propose amygdala-driven apnea as a novel mechanism in the chemoreceptive origin of anxiety.
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