Difference between measured and calculated critical delay of bulbospinal respiratory neurons caused by determinations of refractoriness

Abstract We hypothesized that differences between the critical delay for antidromic activation of bulbospinal respiratory neurons and the sum of their antidromic latency and refractory period are due to the use of techniques which measure refractoriness at the site of recording rather than of stimulation. This hypothesis was confirmed by measuring the critical delay for bulbospinal neurons, their antidromic latencies, and their refractoriness both at the sites of stimulation and recording.