Neuronal basis of bimodal ventilation in low vertebrates

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Breathing is perhaps the most vital, robust and rhythmic behavior in mammals yet key questions regarding the nature of the rhythmogenic neuronal circuit that generates the breathing rhythm remain largely unresolved. These include: (a) How extensive is the rhythmogenic circuit? (b) Can it be reduced to a number of discrete, but interacting neuronal oscillators? And (c) how did the circuit evolve? Motivated by (a) the fact that breathing is quintessential to human health and well-being, (b) the need for greater knowledge about central control of breathing in non-mammalian species and (c) the fact that a comparative approach has been instrumental in illuminating neuronal mechanisms underlying the physiology of other systems, the proposed experiments focus on neuronal control of breathing in lower vertebrates and address the evolution of the rhythmogenic circuit.