S12
Comparative Aspects of Respiratory Rhythm Generation and Control of Breathing
Organizer :
Marc Zelter (Faculté de Médecine Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris France)
Breathing in vertebrates depends on rhythmic contractions of respiratory muscles. In fish and tadpoles, rhythmic contractions of the mouth floor propel water over the gills. In aerial vertebrates, rhythmic muscular activation drives air into the lungs. All these rhythmic behaviors depend on neural oscillators that, in spite of some differences, share many characteristics. This suggests a possible homology that may justify to study lower vertebrates to gain insight into the mechanisms of respiratory rhythm generation in higher vertebrates. Furthermore, instead of being regular, human breathing exhibits high variability and complexity. The symposium will focus on compararative respiratory rhythm generation in various animal species to try to envision how the complex dynamics of breathing in humans stem from evolution.
Speakers:
1) Hiroshi Onimaru (Showa Univ. School of Medicine, Japan)
Respiratory rhythm generation and central chemoreceptors in rodents
2) Christian Straus (Fac. Médecine Pierre et Marie Curie Paris France)
Non linear dynamics of respiration, from frog to humans
3) Steven F. Perry (Inst. Zoology, Univ. Bonn, Germany)
Breathing and Thermoregulation in Sauropod Dinosaurs: Size Matters.
4) Peter Frappell (Univ. Tasmania, Australia)
TBA