Towards an Understanding of the Neurophysiology of the Human Cough Reflex

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Coughing is essential to protect our lungs from harm. However, many people have a troublesome cough that interferes with their life by causing problems like incontinence, embarrassment or depression. Any cough lasting more than 8 weeks is known as a chronic cough. Unfortunately, existing cough medications are often ineffective. To develop new treatments we need to understand more about the changes that occur in the human body that can lead to chronic cough. Cough and pain are similar in many ways. Just as the brain has control over the amount of pain we feel by releasing morphine-like substances, the brain may also control coughing. This study will investigate whether the brain is no longer effective at controlling coughing in people with chronic cough. I aim to show that:(i) The brain releases morphine-like substances which control coughing in healthy people, but not for people with chronic cough.(ii) The brain is less effective at controlling coughing in women, explaining why more women develop a chronic cough.