Relationship of current parameters to hyperpnea produced by brain polarization

¹ Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The phenomenon of synchronized hyperpnea, produced by applying biased sinusoidal currents to a circumscribed area of the rat brain stem, was characterized in terms of some stimulus parameters. Ventilation was increased when the amplitude of the sinusoidal component was increased; at 1 cycle/sec and negative bias, V = 851 + 123. The magnitude of the hyperpnea was frequently dependent. Of the frequencies tested (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4 cycles/sec), a stimulus of 2 cycles/sec elicited the largest ventilatory response. In the absence of a sinusoidal component, the effect of cathodal current on ventilation was given by the equation V = .421 + 134. As an anode, the electrode exerted no significant effect on ventilation.

Key Words: respiratory center stimulation • oscillating stimulus • patterned respiratory activity • d-c stimulation

Submitted on March 22, 1965