The expiration reflex in the mouse.

The authors determined the elicitability of the expiration reflex and the mechanoreceptive sensitivity of the respiratory tract in 35 anaesthetized albino mice. They found that the expiration reflex could be elicited from both the oral and the tracheal end and that its intensity was statistically significantly higher in elicitation from the oral end. The only other pronounced respiratory reflexes evoked by mechanical stimulation of the airways were the sneeze reflex and the aspiration reflex, which is present in most animals. The mechanoreceptors of the tracheal and bronchial mucosa were less sensitive to stimulation. In most cases they did not react at all, or with just a single forced inspiration, and at other times only by a change in respiration frequency and amplitude.