Inhibition of inspiratory activity by intercostal muscle afferents.
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Experiments on cats showed that the nucleus of the solitary tract displayed zones whose stimulation provoked separately stimulation or inhibition of the electrical activity of the phrenic neurons and the diaphragm. Stimulation in the nucleus ambiguus of such zones caused stimulation and inhibition of electrical activity of the intercostal inspiratory muscles. In stimulation of the corresponding zone in the giant cell nucleus the electrical activity of both groups of the inspiratory muscles proved to change. It is suggested that the action of stimulation of the giant cell nucleus zones on both groups of inspiratory muscles is mediated through the neurons of the solitary tract and the nucleus ambiguus.
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During spontaneous breathing, the interchondral muscles present a pattern of activity similar to that of the diaphragm. The external intercostals and most of the internal intercostals generally show electrical discharges not related to ventilatory rhythm. Studies of the electrical responses of these muscles in experimental variations of their length show that the external and internal intercostals are readily activated by this category of reflexes while the diaphragm and the interchondrals are not. Bilateral multisegmental sections of spinal dorsal roots do not affect the respiratory activity of the diaphragm and of the interchondral muscles; on the contrary, all types of activity - spontaneous or reflex - disappear from the intercostals. Electrical stimulation of appropriate points in the bulbar pyramids in decerebrate cats can activate at the same time different intercostals and leg muscles without modifying the rhythmic inspiratory activity of the diaphragm and the interchondrals. In preparations with chronically implanted electrodes, the intercostals muscles are chiefly involved in posture. These results fit very well with our histological findings which disclose a much greater density of muscle spindles in external intercostals than in the diaphragm or in the interchondral muscles.
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The shortening of the canine parasternal intercostals during inspiration may have a passive component, and we have previously speculated that this might result from the actions of the levator costae and external intercostals (J. Appl. Physiol. 66: 1421-1429, 1989). The present studies were designed, therefore, to evaluate the pattern of activation of these muscles in the dog and to define their action on the rib cage during breathing. The results indicate that 1) the levator costae and external intercostals in the cranial part of the rib cage are active during inspiration, both in the supine and in the prone posture; 2) the inspiratory activation of the two muscles is increased after bilateral phrenicotomy; 3) it is increased even more when the parasternal intercostals in the different interspaces are also denervated; and 4) when the levator costae and external intercostals are the only muscles active during inspiration, the ribs continue to move cranially, and the sternum, rather than moving caudally as it does in the intact animal, moves cranially as well. Therefore, we conclude that the levator costae and external intercostals in the dog have a true inspiratory function. When needed, they are capable of causing a significant expansion of the rib cage and the lung during breathing.