Breathing is an important and fundamental biological function that humans rely on, which opens up a realm of research opportunities. The articles “Facing the challenge of mammalian neural microcircuits: taking a few breaths may help” by Jack L. Feldman and Kaiwen Kam, and “Dynamic mechanisms that couple the brain and breathing to the external environment” by Josh Goheen et al. discuss the connection of breathing and neuroscience. There are multiple internal and external influences on breathing, and both articles provide a holistic overview on the neural basis of respiratory control, whether it’s by investigating the cellular mechanisms or the larger environmental interactions.
The first article focuses on preBOTC which is a neural circuit in the brainstem that generates respiratory rhythms, highlighting that rhythms do not occur with single neurons, but instead arise from our combined microcircuit properties. To discover this, the researchers utilized optogenetics and photoablation to uncover the key roles played by specific groups of neurons. These findings highlight the intricate nature of the breathing rhythm, which relies on collective mechanisms that coordinate molecular, cellular, and synaptic dynamics. This understanding offers essential insights into how breathing functions independently, sustaining life without further external processes. On the other hand, the second article focuses on how respiratory rhythms may adapt to external stimuli. The researchers use EEG and respiratory data from human subjects to identify two vital mechanisms: short-term synchronization and long-term dynamic attunement. Short-term synchronization is when neurons work together in the moment, while long-term dynamic attunement is how they adapt over time to stay balanced and flexible. In the context of this research, the short-term synchronization aligns breathing with brain activity over milliseconds whereas the dynamic attunement aligns the rhythms for longer, such as minutes. For example, during a task involving auditory input, breathing patterns and brain activity naturally would synchronize with the timing of the sounds. This shows that breathing may not just be only an automatic and internal process, but rather it actively responds to the environment, creating a link between our body’s internal rhythms and external sensory inputs.
Although the two articles focus on different aspects of breathing, both agree that breathing comes from complex, dynamic interactions within the nervous system. The first article highlights internal mechanisms, while the second explores how external factors influence breathing. Together, they show that while breathing is driven by circuits like the preBOTC, it is also greatly flexible, and can adjust to match external demands. This balance reveals how respiratory control is both essential for survival and adaptable enough to respond to the environment. Both of these articles offer valuable insights that can further future research and be applied across various disciplines, such as medicine. The preBOTC’s mechanisms may connect into disorders like sleep apnea or SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) where the process of generating rhythms is disrupted. The findings from the second article may provide insight into interventions for anxiety or PTSD, where some therapeutic treatments focus on breathing control and pacing to calm neural activity.
In conclusion, both articles study the neural mechanisms behind the vital function of breathing which links neuroscience with physiology. Connecting the rhythm generating role of the preBOTC with the way that our brains react to external factors offers an extensive overview on the flexibility of breathing, analyzing both the brain’s internal circuits and external factors.
References:
Feldman JL, Kam K. Facing the challenge of mammalian neural microcircuits: taking a few breaths may help. J Physiol. 2015 Jan 1;593(1):3-23. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2014.277632. PMID: 25556783; PMCID: PMC4293049.
Goheen, J., Wolman, A., Angeletti, L.L. et al. Dynamic mechanisms that couple the brain and breathing to the external environment. Commun Biol 7, 938 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06642-3
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