Augmentation of phrenic neural activity by increased rates of lung inflation

Studies were conducted in anesthetized paralyzed dogs using a cycle-triggered constant-flow ventilator, which ventilated the animal in phase with the recorded phrenic neural activity. Intermittently tests were performed in which the animal was ventilated with a different airflow for a single breath. Increased airflows, within the range generated during spontaneous breathing, caused an increased rate of rise of the moving average phrenic neurogram and a shortening of the duration of the nerve burst. The magnitude of the increase in the rate of rise of the neurogram was related to the level of inspiratory airflow. Tests with brief pulses of airflow showed that an increase in the rate of rise of the phrenic neurogram could be produced without inflating the lung above the resting tidal volume of the animal. Similar results were obtained with negative-pressure ventilation and the effects were abolished by vagotomy. This vagally mediated augmentation of phrenic neural output may accelerate the inspiratory volume change in the lung during spontaneous breathing at hyperpneic levels.