The phrenic neuromuscular system
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Updated: Sep 1, 2025

Functional and Morphological Assessment of Diaphragm Innervation by Phrenic Motor Neurons
Published on: May 25, 2015
David D Fuller1, Sabhya Rana1, Ashley J Smuder2
1Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States; McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States; Breathing Research and Therapeutics Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, United States.
Abstract:
The phrenic neuromuscular system consists of the phrenic motor nucleus in the mid-cervical spinal cord, the phrenic nerve, and the diaphragm muscle. This motor system helps sustain breathing throughout life, while also contributing to posture, coughing, swallowing, and speaking. The phrenic nerve contains primarily efferent phrenic axons and afferent axons from diaphragm sensory receptors but is also a conduit for autonomic fibers. On a breath-by-breath basis, rhythmic (inspiratory) depolarization of phrenic motoneurons occurs due to excitatory bulbospinal synaptic pathways. Further, a complex propriospinal network innervates phrenic motoneurons and may serve to coordinate postural, locomotor, and respiratory movements. The phrenic neuromuscular system is impacted in a wide range of neuromuscular diseases and injuries. Contemporary research is focused on understanding how neuromuscular plasticity occurs in the phrenic neuromuscular system and using this information to optimize treatments and rehabilitation strategies to improve breathing and related behaviors.
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