Journal
RESPIRATORY PHYSIOLOGY & NEUROBIOLOGY
Volume 195, Issue -, Pages 44-49Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2014.02.009
Keywords
Postnatal development; Hebbian plasticity; Brainstem; Sensory processing
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Funding
- Bernstein Center for Computational Neurosciences (BCCN) [01GQ0432]
- NHLBI [R33 HL087377]
- ARC Future fellowship
- Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
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The Hering-Breuer (HBR) reflex is considered a major regulatory feedback for the generation and patterning of respiratory activity. While HBR is important in neonates, its significance in adults is controversial. Previous experiments that investigated the plasticity of entrainment of the respiratory rhythm by vagal input demonstrated postnatal changes in HBR plasticity. Here we analyzed postnatal changes in the plasticity of HBR by mimicking the classic lung inflation tests with repetitive tonic vagal stimulation across different postnatal stages in an in situ perfused brainstem preparation of rat. The study shows that neonates stereotypically exhibit HBR stimulus-dependent prolongation of expiration while juvenile preparations (>postnatal day 16) showed significant habituation of HBR following repetitive stimulation. Subsequent experiments employing physiological lung inflation tests in situ confirmed HBR habituation in juveniles. We conclude that postnatal emergence of HBR habituation explains the weak contribution and high activation threshold of HBR in the regulation of eupnea. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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