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Embargoed for release at 2 p.m. Nov. 18, 1999.
UCLA RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY PORTION OF BRAIN THAT CONTROLS
BREATHING; DISCOVERY OPENS DOOR TO RESEARCH ON HUMAN DISEASE
Researchers at UCLA have for the first time identified the very small section of the brain thought to control breathing in mammals, opening the door to research that could lead to new ways to control serious health problems such as sleep apnea and sudden infant death syndrome.
In a study being published in the Nov. 19 edition of the journal Science, UCLA researchers link a small group of neurons in the brain stem to control of respiration by showing they are strongly affected by chemical agents that slow down or speed up respiratory rhythm.
"Breathing is one of the essential functions of life, so it's surprising how little we know about how it occurs," said Jack Feldman, a neurobiologist who headed the UCLA research team. "Now that we know where the origins of respiration occur in the brain, it opens up a whole new arena of research."
Other members of the UCLA research team were Paul Gray, Jens Rekling and Christopher Bocchiaro, of the UCLA Departments of Neurobiology and Physiological Sciences, and the UCLA Interdepartmental Ph.D. Program in Neuroscience.
"By using the latest imaging techniques, researchers now will be able to study the control of respiration in the human brain, which could lead to new approaches in studying and treating human breathing problems," Feldman said.
The UCLA study supplies evidence that the origins of respiration in mammals is in the PreBˆtzinger complex, a small portion of the brain stem hypothesized as the center of respiration.
Feldman and his colleagues showed in earlier studies that the rhythm of breathing could be observed in thin slices of the PreBˆtzinger complex taken from laboratory mice and rats. While this suggested the region was the basis of respiration, it did not precisely locate the neurons involved in the activity.
In the study published in the latest edition of Science, UCLA researchers report the results of studies with PreBˆtzinger tissue that was injected with agents that speed up or slow down respiration.
The chemical agents either decreased or increased the rhythmic pattern seen in the tissue. But more importantly, the agents activated only those neurons that are believed to be involved in generating the rhythmic signals and not other neurons believed to be involved with transmitting the rhythms down the brain stem to the diaphragm and related muscles.
"This is pretty convincing evidence that these are the neurons that control breathing functions," said Feldman, chairman of the Department of Neurobiology at the UCLA School of Medicine.
"Because the brain is organized in similar ways, the same portion of the human brain is likely to control respiration as in rats and mice because the brains are organized in similar ways," said Feldman, who also is a professor of physiological science.
Funding for the study was provided by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Other funds were provided by the Ford Foundation, the American Physiological Society and the Parker Families Fund.
-UCLA-
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