Physiology 3120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Respiratory Center, Peripheral Chemoreceptors, Central Chemoreceptors

• School: Western University
• Department: Physiology
• Course: Physiology 3120
• Professor: Tom Stavraky

Document Summary

Control of respiration: voluntary regulation, automatic regulation (1) control of respiration: the voluntary system. You can change your breathing pattern whenever you want. Signals from cerebral cortex through corticospinal tract to spinal neurons that drive i. e. hold breath, speaking, etc respiratory muscles. Limited: ultimately, the automatic system takes over (i. e. can"t hold breath forever) (2) control of respiration: the automatic system. Responsible for maintaining normal blood gas values under a variety of conditions. Central controller: coordinates and responds to the information provided by the receptors: sends signals to respiratory muscles. Receptors: collects information of the current status of blood gases and other factors. Respiratory muscles: receive impulses from the controller to ultimately affect ventilation. Neurons located in 4 areas: inspiratory area. Dorsal group of neurons in the medulla. Inherent rhythmic excitability (sends rhythmic signals to respiratory muscles) Initiates inspiratory drive: pneumotaxic area breaths. Control of inspiratory volume and respiratory rate.