Inability of awake patients to correctly locate a cough stimulus

To determine whether patients can accurately identify the lung in which a cough reflex originates, a unilateral cough stimulus was administered to 67 patients during fiberoptic bronchoscopy. Although the stimulus produced a vigorous cough reflex in all subjects, 51 of 67 individuals were unable to identify the side stimulated. These results suggest that impulses from endobronchial irritant receptors are not perceived cortically as originating within a particular hemithorax.