Carbon Dioxide-Sensitivelaryngeal Receptors and Their Reflex Effects

It has been knowm for more than a century that upper airway (UA) CO2 reflexly inhibits breathing through the superior laryngeal nerve (SLN)1,2 and it has been shown that SLN afferents are sensitive to CO2 3. However, in these studies, the larynx was opened by a ventral midline incision and/or was not in receipt of the pressures, airflows, temperatures and humidities associated with breathing.