ABSTRACT
Since prolonged failure of the respiratory control sysem is not compatible with life, the mechanisms underlying respiratory control must be robust under a wide range of conditions. However, a robust neural system need not be a rigid circuit. Neuroplasticity enables appropriate adaptations to frequent or chronic disturbances that initiate active modifications in respiratory control such as weight gain or loss, altitude exposure or injury [1]. Studies of respiratory plasticity are intended to reveal how and why experience or changing conditions influence the control of breathing. Further, the respiratory system provides an ideal model to explore fundamental mechanisms of neuroplasticity for at least two reasons. First, the respiratory neural control networks produce a spontaneous rhythmic and quantifiable motor output under a wide range of in vivo and in vitro conditions. Second, clear functional significance can be ascribed to respiratory motor output: it represents breathing. Many influential models of neuroplasticity (e.g., hippocampal long-term potentiation; [2,3]) lack these advantages.
