Control of breathing in vertebrates

我的实验室研究了呼吸过程的进化起源，以及这些过程中的适应性变化，这些变化使动物能够利用不同的环境。因此，它有助于我们理解生物多样性的机制基础和栖息地选择的生理成本。在此背景下，我们研究了脊椎动物在各种条件下（休息、睡眠、运动、高原、休眠、冬眠、潜水等）的呼吸和心血管适应。在所有大型多细胞生物中，呼吸对于提供氧气和从组织中清除二氧化碳是必不可少的。所有脊椎动物（从鱼类到人类）大脑中的某些区域产生呼吸节奏，但这种节奏并不总是表达出来。这种自然节奏受到来自不同感觉系统和大脑中决定呼吸是否、何时以及如何发生的其他区域的信息的修改。这导致了一种假设，即在脊椎动物中观察到的各种各样的呼吸模式和通气反应是由一个共同系统输入的净平衡差异和系统各组成部分的敏感性差异造成的。脊椎动物有很多呼吸模式，包括那些长时间停止呼吸的模式（呼吸暂停等）。这些呼吸模式不仅挑战了这一假设，它们还表明，一种可以解释海龟和冬眠松鼠呼吸停止的机制，也可以解释鲤鱼的间歇性呼吸和人类的睡眠呼吸暂停。利用物种差异（系统发育）、发育变化（个体发育）和遗传操作作为工具，我们希望确定呼吸节律和模式形成的位点和神经基础（基本机制）。我们还希望确定心血管和呼吸反应在短期内可以被修改的方式（适应），并在长期内被进化（适应）塑造，以满足生活在不同栖息地的脊椎动物的需求。

Research in my lab examines the evolutionary origins of respiratory processes and the adaptive changes in these processes that allow animals to exploit diverse environments. As such it contributes to our understanding of the mechanistic basis of biodiversity and the physiological costs of habitat selection. Within this context we examine respiratory and cardiovascular adaptations in vertebrate animals under various conditions (at rest, sleep, exercise, altitude, dormancy, hibernation, diving, etc.). Breathing is essential for providing oxygen and removing carbon dioxide from tissues in all large, multi-cellular organisms. Certain areas within the brain of all vertebrates (from fish to man) produce a respiratory rhythm but this rhythm is not always expressed. This natural rhythm is modified by information from different sensory systems and from other areas in the brain that determine if, when and how breathing occurs. This leads to the hypothesis that the wide variety of breathing patterns and ventilatory responses observed in vertebrate animals result from differences in the net balance of inputs to a common system, and from differences in the sensitivity of the various components of the system. There are many breathing patterns seen in vertebrates, including those that contain prolonged periods during which breathing ceases (apneas etc.). These breathing patterns not only challenge this hypothesis, they also suggest that a mechanism that can explain the episodes where breathing stops in turtles and hibernating squirrels may also explain episodic breathing in carp and sleep apnea in man. Using species differences (phylogeny), developmental changes (ontogeny) and genetic manipulations as tools, we hope to determine the sites and neural basis of respiratory rhythm and pattern formation (fundamental mechanisms). We also hope to determine the manner in which cardiovascular and respiratory responses can be modified in the short term (acclimation) and have been shaped by evolution in the long term (adaptation) to meet the demands of vertebrate animals living in diverse habitats.