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This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 90/1/13    most recent expphysiol.2004.028985v1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dempsey, J. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dempsey, J. A. Related Collections Lectures Respiratory

¹ John Rankin Laboratory of Pulmonary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

Abstract

This brief review addresses the characteristics, lability and the mechanisms underlying the hypocapnic-induced apnoeic threshold which is unmasked during NREM sleep. The role of carotid chemoreceptors as fast, sensitive detectors of dynamic changes in CO₂ is emphasized and placed in historical context of the long-held debate over central vs. peripheral contributions to CO₂ sensing and to apnoea. Finally, evidence is presented which points to a significant role for unstable, central respiratory motor output as a significant contributor to upper airway narrowing and obstruction during sleep.

(Received 14 September 2004; accepted after revision 22 October 2004; first published online 30 November 2004)
Corresponding author J. A. Dempsey: John Rankin Laboratory of Pulmonary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, 1300 University Avenue, Rm. 4245 MSC, Madison, WI, USA. Email: jdempsey{at}wisc.edu

Experimental Biology, Washington, DC, USA, April 2004.