Pennsylvania Department of Health, SAP # 4100089343; 6/01/2021- 5/31/2023
PI: Bezdudnaya T, Co-PI: Rybak IA

The long-term goals of this project are to investigate the organization of spinal respiratory circuits, evaluate conditions for activation of breathing by stimulation of limb muscle afferents in intact and injured spinal cord, and develop a novel computational model of the respiratory system. This model will include both supraspinal and spinal levels of respiratory control, afferent inputs from limb muscles, and reproduce all experimental data. The experiments will be performed in adult decerebrate rats in vivo in close interaction with computational modeling studies conducted in parallel. The proposed collaborative project has the following specific aims:

Aim 1: Investigate ipsi- and contralateral effects of limb muscle afferent stimulation on the respiratory spinal motor circuits, and on the breathing (airflow) pattern in decerebrate rats in vivo. With a focus on the forelimb muscle (biceps brachii), we will study the effect of electrical stimulation of ipsi/contralateral muscle afferents on the activity of phrenic motoneurons, respiratory interneurons, and ventilation. Also, interconnections between phrenic and bicep spinal networks will be investigated using transsynaptic tracing techniques and immunohistochemistry. Based on the obtained data, the computational model will be developed and include supraspinal and spinal levels of the respiratory control and relevant interactions between respiratory networks and non-respiratory muscle.

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