Influence of pulmonary inflations on discharge patterns of phrenic motoneurons

The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of pulmonary inflations on activities of single phrenic motoneurons. Studies were performed in decerebrate and paralyzed cats; activities of phrenic nerve and single phrenic motoneurons were recorded. Animals were ventilated with a servo-respirator which produced alterations in tracheal pressure in parallel with changes in integrated activity of the phrenic nerve. At end-tidal fractional concentrations of CO2 of 0.05, phrenic motoneurons were distributed into “early” and “late” populations, depending on time of onset of activity. During the late stages of neural inspiration, differences in levels of integrated activity of the phrenic nerve became evident between cycles with and without lung inflations. At a time approximating 90% of the inspiratory duration during inflations, integrated phrenic activity was higher for cycles with inflation. Concomitantly, with lung inflations, the discharge frequencies of early phrenic motoneurons were lower, and late motoneurons began to discharge sooner than when inflations were withheld. Similar results were obtained in hypercapnia. We conclude that reflexes activated by pulmonary inflations may produce augmentation, as well as inhibition of phrenic motoneuronal activities. Factors responsible for eliciting these reflex augmentations and inhibitions are discussed.