L23 Control of Breathing Flashcards
Why do you breathe?
You breath because you are responding to a need (or a load)
-most obesity is genetic
All action needs an integrate response
Normal, quiet breathing overview
Inspiratory area
- -> 2 seconds on : Contraction of diaphragm–> normal inspiration
- -> 3 seconds off: Relaxation of diaphragm –> normal expiration
- diaphragm does the work and nothing else has to work. Humans are more efficient animals at breathing by far.
- can go for longer and run faster
Heavy breathing overview
Inspiratory area
1) Contraction of diaphragm and external intercostals –> forced inspiration
- have to get alot of air in quickly
- have to work hard at that
2) Inspiratory area activates Expiratory area –> Contraction of internal intercostal and abdominals –> forced expiration
- have to get the air out
- have to keep inspiration and expiration in balance, (no point in breathing out while youre breathing in)
The feedback Loop *
- Central integration (medulla, pons)
- Efferent Output (ventilation, Bronchial muscle, Secretory glands)
- send messages to your breathing muscles + bronchi and mucous glands to do things as your breathing - Feedback (gas exchange, mechanics)
- monitor breathing - Afferent input
- higher CNS centre (behaviour)
- Lung receptors (mechanics)
- Chemoreceptors (arterial blood)
- response to decide what to do with next breath
* *each breath is individually modulated to fit the task
4x Main aims of control of breathing
- To maintain the “interior” milieu: (normal PaO2, PaCO2, pH) (blood gases and pH)
- To meet the oxygen requirement of tissues during exercise, or stress (e.g. sepsis or other disease state) (CO2 production comes with O2)
- Protect arterial Po2 by minimising A-aDO2- gas exchange crucial (minimum load on respiratory muscles, spare energy to do kill)
- Minimise work of respiratory muscles - respiratory mechanics crucial to efficiency (decrease work by maintaining gas exchange incredibly efficient)
Potential problems with breathing
No feedback/afferents? (to brain to tell her to breath)
No efferents (doesnt know how to breath, muscles dont do anything)
No central integration (doesnt have correct messages to know what to do)
No drive to breath?
Ondine’s curse
-exceptionally rare
-good illustration of control of breathing going wrong
Uneventful delivery- resuscitation call to post delivery unit as baby apnoeic following feed
18 months later- well but tracheostomy since birth & respiratory supports (when asleep)
Crawls and moves normally without breathing support
Stops breathing if sleeps
Odine’s curse possible efferent output problem
Efferent output: Ventilation, Bronchial muscles, Secretory glands
- this toddles ventilates appropriately when awake
- this implies normal responses to efferent output of the respiratory control centres (can other normal activities like everyone else breathing fine)
- i.e. the breathing muscles and lungs work normally
Odine’s curse possible feedback/afferent problem
(does she get any messages)
Appropriate breathing pattern when active (not fast or slow) so must be getting feedback form lungs and chest wall (normal central feedback/integration when awake)
Coughs if chokes so intact receptors
Yawns and sighs normally
Capable of maintaining normal oxygen and CO2 (normal blood gases) awake so must be sensing blood gases (not let them drift)
Odine’s curse possible central integration problem
Odine’s curse has No central drive/control to breathe? (tell ourselves to breath)
- What stimulates breathing: medulla, pons
- How is breathing controlled
- How is it modulates to produce the most efficient breathing pattern
Rhythm and pattern generation
Rhythm generation =/= pattern generation
Rhythm generation
Reliable but highly liable
Up to 10^9 breaths in life (billions breaths moving 1/2 billion L of air)
Robust system that does not fail (cannot fail!) (cannot stop, system must be able to cope with health, sickness, exercise, because if stops=dead)
Flexible:
-up to magnitude of change in volume so rhythm is involved as frequency has to alter as does inspiratory and expiratory ratio (4-5L per min –> 20-25Lper min with exercise, change needs to occur 2-3 sec to maintain adequate O2 delivery to exercising muscles)
-very rapid and precise response to maintain gases during exercise, fever or sepsis (complex)
Pons and Medulla Simplified
Pons and medulla is where most of breathing happens
-involving multiple groups of neurons/Networks of neurons/centres
-lots of things feeding into the complex of centres
*NTS-nucleus tractus solitarius - feeds in
BC - Bottinger complex
preBotC- preBottinger complex - stimulus to breathe
VRG- ventral respiratory group
*RTN/pFRG- Retro-trapezoid nucleus/parafacial group - control expiration
*LC- Locus Ceruleus
Nuclei w. * thought to be responsive to pH and CO2 + some evidence lateral hypothalamus also responds
Current view of rhythmogenesis
Rhythm Generator=
- preBotC(stimulus to breathe/inspiration):
- Not a simple pacemaker - inspiratory oscillator (rhythm and amplitude) (amplitude must be varied b/w inspiration and expiration in some expirated fashion) - inputs modulate output triggering inspiration (constantly changing balance b/w inspiration and expiration dependant on what you’re doing. Less time to breath in and out when doing exercise and moving alot of air) - RTN/pFRG (active expiration) (also osscilator)
- there has to be 1. an inspiratory “off” switch to allow expiration (so two remain integrated) and 2. ability to switch on active expiration (runs expiration during heavier exercise)
- off switch must be very accurate as have to switch inspiration off abruptly and accurately to match the breathing pattern
Summary on oscillators for rhythmogenesis/rhythm generator
Oscillator= Rhythm (pacemaker) + Amplitude
-how it talks back to each other isnt clear cut
-but must talk b/w each other in or to make a balanced system
+ (cannot tell pacemaker in heart to stop (can stop breathing voluntarily))