Discussion Topic:

The brainstem centers that control breathing"

Research:

The brainstem is the stalklike part of your brain that connects your brain to your spinal cord (column of

nerve tissue that runs down your spine). It sits toward the bottom of your brain and is part of your

central nervous system. The respiratory center is located in the medulla oblongata and is involved in

the minute-to-minute control of breathing. Unlike the cardiac system, respiratory rhythm is not

produced by a homogeneous population of pacemaker cells. Rather, it can be explained with two

oscillators: the parafacial respiratory group and the pre-Bötzinger complex. (St John.,2009). The

inspiratory and expiratory activities produced in these medullary respiratory rhythm generators are

modulated from various sites of the lower brainstem, including the pons and Bötzinger complex, and

are then output as motoneuron activities through the efferent networks in the brainstem and spinal

cord . Just as our heartbeat is controlled by pacemaker cells in the heart, our breathing is regulated by a

cluster of a few thousand cells in the brainstem known as the preBötzinger Complex, or preBötC.

Discovered in 1991, these cells are the center of breathing regulation. (Nattie .,1999).

Critical thinking:

The bottom part of the brains Brainstem centres control the breathing and from this point of

view it is most important to save life of people. Any issue in brainstem centre can lead to a serious

health conditions.tem helps regulate your breathing, heart rhythms, blood pressure and swallowing.

The trick that I use to memorize compatibility is that the “Rule of M/B” helps to establish

where the long tracts of the brainstem used for breathing. This mnemonic requires some simple

nomenclature gymnastics. The “M” in the rule stands for “medula”; the “B” stands for “breathing”.

All of us need to know our respiratory center that is located in the medulla oblongata and is

involved in the minute-to-minute control of breathing since it would be useful in case of an emergency

where someone known to us would need help in any breathing difficulty.

References:

 Nattie, E. (1999). CO2, brainstem chemoreceptors and breathing. Progress in

neurobiology, 59(4), 299-331.

 Bachmutsky, I., Wei, X. P., Kish, E., & Yackle, K. (2020). Opioids depress

breathing through two small brainstem sites. Elife, 9, e52694.

 St John, W. M. (2009). Noeud vital for breathing in the brainstem: gasping—

yes, eupnoea—doubtful. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B:

Biological Sciences, 364(1529), 2625-2633.