The behaviour of medullary respiratory neurons was studied during fictive coughing and swallowing evoked by electrical stimulation of the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) in decerebrate, paralysed and artificially ventilated cats. Fictive coughing, swallowing and respiration were monitored by recording activities of the phrenic, hypoglossal and abdominal nerves. 2. Extracellular recordings were made from respiratory neurons in the ventral respiratory group (VRG) and in the Bötzinger complex (BOT). The neuronal types analysed included decrementing inspiratory neurons (I-DEC), augmenting expiratory neurons (E-AUG) and decrementing expiratory neurons (E-DEC) from the BOT area, and augmenting inspiratory neurons (I-AUG) and augmenting expiratory neurons (E-AUG) from the VRG area. 3. During fictive coughing, all the inspiratory and expiratory neurons were active during the inspiratory and expiratory phases of coughing, respectively. The firing of both I-DEC and I-AUG neurons was increased and prolonged in association with the augmented inspiratory activity of the phrenic nerve. The activity of E-AUG neurons of the VRG did not parallel the abdominal nerve activity, suggesting the existence of additional neurons which participate in the generation of abdominal nerve activity during fictive coughing. 4. During fictive swallowing, half of I-DEC neurons fired transiently at the onset of hypoglossal bursts associated with swallowing; the firing was suppressed during the rest of the hypoglossal bursts. Other I-DEC neurons were silent during hypoglossal bursts. Some I-AUG neurons fired during the initial half of hypoglossal bursts, and others were silent. The brief phrenic activity accompanying the swallowing might have originated from this activity in I-AUG neurons. The discharges of all E-AUG neurons (BOT and VRG) and the majority of E-DEC BOT neurons were suppressed during swallowing. 5. We conclude that these five types of respiratory neurons of the BOT and VRG are involved in the generation of the spatiotemporally organized activity of coughing and swallowing, and that at least a part of the neuronal network for respiration is shared by networks for these non-respiratory activities.
