Sleep-disordered breathing after targeted ablation of preBotzinger complex neurons

Ablation of preBotzinger complex (preBotC) neurons, critical for respiratory rhythm generation, resulted in a progressive, increasingly severe disruption of respiratory pattern, initially during sleep and then also during wakefulness in adult rats. Sleep-disordered breathing is highly prevalent in elderly humans and in some patients with neurodegenerative disease. We propose that sleep-disordered breathing results from loss of preBotC neurons and could underlie death during sleep in these populations.