Smith J C, Ellenberger H H, Ballanyi K, Richter D W, Feldman J L
Department of Kinesiology, University of California, Los Angeles 90024-1527.
Science. 1991 Nov 1;254(5032):726-9. doi: 10.1126/science.1683005.
The location of neurons generating the rhythm of breathing in mammals is unknown. By microsection of the neonatal rat brainstem in vitro, a limited region of the ventral medulla (the pre-Bötzinger Complex) that contains neurons essential for rhythmogenesis was identified. Rhythm generation was eliminated by removal of only this region. Medullary slices containing the pre-Bötzinger Complex generated respiratory-related oscillations similar to those generated by the whole brainstem in vitro, and neurons with voltage-dependent pacemaker-like properties were identified in this region. Thus, the respiratory rhythm in the mammalian neonatal nervous system may result from a population of conditional bursting pacemaker neurons in the pre-Bötzinger Complex.
哺乳动物中产生呼吸节律的神经元位置尚不清楚。通过对新生大鼠脑干进行体外切片，确定了延髓腹侧的一个有限区域（前包钦格复合体），该区域包含对节律产生至关重要的神经元。仅切除该区域就消除了节律产生。含有前包钦格复合体的延髓切片产生了与整个脑干在体外产生的类似呼吸相关振荡，并且在该区域鉴定出具有电压依赖性起搏器样特性的神经元。因此，哺乳动物新生神经系统中的呼吸节律可能源于前包钦格复合体中一群条件性爆发起搏器神经元。
