# Neural control of breathing

> **NIH NIH R35** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2022 · $781,655

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Breathing is a remarkable behavior fundamental to life that mediates gas exchange to support metabolism and
regulate pH. A reliable, non-stop, robust rhythmic pattern of respiratory muscle activity is essential for
breathing in mammals. Failure to maintain a normal breathing pattern in humans suffering from sleep apnea,
apnea of prematurity, congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, hyperventilation syndrome, Rett syndrome,
and perhaps Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, leads to serious adverse health consequences, even death.
Various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease, multiple systems atrophy, and amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis, are associated with sleep disordered breathing that we hypothesize results from the loss of
neurons in brain areas controlling respiration. If breathing is to be understood in normal and in pathological
conditions, the mechanisms for respiratory central pattern generation must be revealed. We focus on two brain
sites essential for generation of the normal breathing pattern, the preBötzinger Complex and the retrotrapezoid
nucleus/parafacial respiratory group. We propose a broad series of experiments both in vivo and in vitro in
rodents using advanced techniques including: viral delivery to express genetically encoded opsins or
DREADDs in key subpopulations of neurons in these regions; advanced optical techniques to determine the
contributions of the preBötzinger Complex microcircuit to rhythm generation; state-of-the-art neuroanatomical
techniques to establish, in appropriate and necessary detail, the interconnectivity of the brainstem respiratory
pattern generator. The data from these experiments will provide an extraordinary window into the mechanisms
underlying respiratory rhythm and pattern generation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10320834
- **Project number:** 5R35HL135779-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** JACK L FELDMAN
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $781,655
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-01-11 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10320834

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10320834, Neural control of breathing (5R35HL135779-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10320834. Licensed CC0.

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