Breathing is a well-described, vital and surprisingly complex behaviour, with behavioural
and physiological outputs that are easy to directly measure. Key neural elements for …

It is well known that breathing introduces rhythmical oscillations in the heart rate and arterial
pressure levels. Sympathetic oscillations coupled to the respiratory activity have been …

Cardiorespiratory coupling is an encompassing term describing more than the well-
recognized influences of respiration on heart rate and blood pressure. Our data indicate that …

The retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN) contains chemosensitive cells that distribute CO2-
dependent excitatory drive to the respiratory network. This drive facilitates the function of the …

The respiratory central pattern generator must respond to chemosensory cues to maintain
oxygen (O 2) and carbon dioxide (CO 2) homeostasis in the blood and tissues. To do this …

Spinally projecting neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) play a critical role in
the generation of vasomotor sympathetic tone and are thought to receive convergent input …

Key points Contraction of abdominal muscles at the end of expiration during metabolic
challenges (such as hypercapnia and hypoxia) improves pulmonary ventilation. The …

Key points Hypercapnia or parafacial respiratory group (pFRG) disinhibition at normocapnia
evokes active expiration in rats by recruitment of pFRG late‐expiratory (late‐E) neurons. We …

Coordination of respiratory pump and valve muscle activity is essential for normal breathing.
A hallmark respiratory response to hypercapnia and hypoxia is the emergence of active …

Early life over-nutrition, as experienced in maternal obesity, is a risk factor for developing
cardiorespiratory and metabolic diseases. Here we investigated the effects of high-fat diet …