[Laryngeal control mechanisms during respiration and phonation analyzed by excitability changes of laryngeal motoneurons in decerebrate cats].

Laryngeal motoneurons (LMNs) innervating the intrinsic laryngeal muscles also control glottal movements such as swallowing, respiration and phonation. The present study was performed on decerebrate cats to clarify the laryngeal control mechanisms during respiration and phonation using extracellular single unit recordings from the nucleus ambiguus. First, functional differences among LMNs during the respiratory phases were investigated by analysis of the activity of LMNs innervating laryngeal adductor (TA-LCA: thyroarytenoid-lateral cricoarytenoid) or abductor (PCA: posterior cricoarytenoid) muscles; Second, laryngeal control mechanisms during phonation were investigated by the analysis of neural activity of TA-LCA motoneurons during vocal fold vibration elicited by a constant air flow through the glottis. In both cases, motoneuronal excitability changes were expressed by measuring fluctuation of peak latencies of action potentials antidromically elicited by selective stimulation of the recurrent nerve or its peripheral branch. In 14 out of 24 TA-LCA motoneurons, neuronal excitability was increased during the expiratory phase, whereas in the remaining 10, it was increased during the later half of the inspiratory and the early half of the expiratory phase. On the other hand, 9 out of 13 PCA motoneurons showed increased neuronal excitability during the end of the expiratory and the beginning of the inspiratory phase, while the remaining 4 showed increased excitability during the inspiratory phase. These results suggest that there are functional differences among the homogeneous laryngeal motoneurons. In seven TA-LCA motoneurons, neuronal excitability was decreased by vocal fold vibration elicited by phonation throughout the whole respiratory cycle. On the other hand, when the bilateral superior laryngeal nerves were cut, neuronal excitability was increased during phonation throughout the whole respiratory cycle. These results indicate that TA-LCA motoneurons receive inhibitory inputs from the superior laryngeal nerve and excitatory inputs from the recurrent laryngeal nerve during the vocal fold vibration elicited by phonation.