Plasticity of brainstem mechanisms of cough

The cough reflex is a brainstem reflex, consisting of specific sensory afferent nerves which trigger the reflex, by transmitting the sensory input over vagal or laryngeal nerves to a brainstem circuitry which processes and ultimately transforms the sensory input into a complex motor output to genera...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Respiratory physiology & neurobiology 2006-07, Vol.152 (3), p.312-319
Main Authors: Bonham, Ann C, Sekizawa, Shin-Ichi, Chen, Chao-Yin, Joad, Jesse P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Afferent Pathways - physiology
Animals
Brain Stem - physiology
Brainstem
Control of cough
Cough
Humans
Medical Education
Neuronal Plasticity - physiology
Nucleus tractus solitarius
Pulmonary/Respiratory
Reflex - physiology
Respiratory Physiological Phenomena
Respiratory System - innervation
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Summary:The cough reflex is a brainstem reflex, consisting of specific sensory afferent nerves which trigger the reflex, by transmitting the sensory input over vagal or laryngeal nerves to a brainstem circuitry which processes and ultimately transforms the sensory input into a complex motor output to generate cough. The first synaptic target for the primary cough-related sensory input is the second-order neurons in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS). This position in the reflex pathway and intricate local circuits within the nucleus make it a strategic site where the sensory information can be modified. Plasticity at this synapse will change the nature of the output—exaggerating it, suppressing it or transforming it into some other complex pattern. This review integrates evidence implicating the NTS in exaggerated cough with proof of the concept that NTS neurons undergo plasticity to contribute to an exaggeration of cough.
ISSN:1569-9048
1878-1519
DOI:10.1016/j.resp.2006.02.010