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J Appl Physiol 82: 584-591, 1997;
8750-7587/97 $5.00
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Journal of Applied Physiology
Vol. 82, No. 2, pp. 584-591, February 1997
CONTROL OF BREATHING, CIRCULATION, AND TEMPERATURE

Respiratory function of velopharyngeal constrictor muscles during wakefulness in normal adults

Sandrine H. Launois1,3, Judy Tsui1,3, and J. Woodrow Weiss1,2,3

1 Charles A. Dana Research Institute and Harvard-Thorndike Laboratory of Beth Israel Hospital, 2 Beth Israel Hospital Sleep Disorders Center, and 3 Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215

Received 27 February 1996; accepted in final form 10 September 1996.

Launois, Sandrine H., Judy Tsui, and J. Woodrow Weiss. Respiratory function of velopharyngeal constrictor muscles during wakefulness in normal adults. J. Appl. Physiol. 82(2): 584-591, 1997.---The levator veli palatini (LVP) and the superior pharyngeal constrictor (SPC) influence velopharyngeal patency and soft palate position, but their behavior during respiration is incompletely characterized. To further clarify their respiratory function, we recorded electromyographic activity (EMG) in the LVP and the SPC in awake normal subjects breathing orally. EMG data were obtained in six subjects for the LVP and in nine subjects for the SPC. EMG activity and timing and ventilation were measured during isocapnic hypoxia and hyperoxic hypercapnia. Phasic EMG activity was inconsistently present during unstimulated oral breathing. Timing of EMG phasic activity was variable for both muscles. Peak LVP activity was mainly or exclusively expiratory in three of six subjects. Peak SPC activity was mainly or exclusively expiratory in five of nine subjects. With chemostimulation, recruitment of phasic activity was observed in the LVP in four of six subjects and in the SPC in five of nine subjects. Tonic activity increased in four of six subjects for the LVP and in three of nine subjects for the SPC. However, the response was alinear, and intersubject as well as breath-to-breath variability was substantial. In conclusion, LVP and SPC are characterized by the high inter- and intrasubject variability of EMG activity, timing of activation, and response to chemostimulation.

upper airway; soft palate; levator veli palatini; superior pharyngeal constrictor; respiration; chemostimulation; electromyography

0161-7567/97 $5.00 Copyright © 1997 the American Physiological Society




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