Learning in Respiratory Control

In this article, it is argued that learning participates to fulfill the metabolic requirements by adapting respiratory control to changing internal and external states. Recent classical conditioning experiments in newborn mice or adult rats showthe close link between conditioned respiratory and arousal responses. The conditioned fear model may be a suitable and largely unexplored model of emotionally induced hyperventilation. The parabrachial nucleus and periacqueducal grey may play a pivotal role in the ventilatory component of conditioned fear. The sensitivity of breathing to conditioning in newborn and adult animals suggests that learning processes may shape breathing pattern throughout life.