Control of breathing: central and peripheral chemoreceptors
The brainstem controller, what central and peripheral chemoreceptors sense, the CO2 and hypoxic ventilatory responses and what blunts them, respiratory compensation for metabolic acid-base disorders (Winter's formula), and clinical applications from altitude to Cheyne-Stokes breathing and oxygen in COPD.
Tier 2Medical sciences concept
Written with AI assistance and fact-checked against the sources below. For exam study, not clinical decisions. How notes are made
At a glance
- The controller is in the medulla (rhythm from the pre-Bötzinger complex, with dorsal and ventral respiratory groups) and is modulated by the pons and the cortex.
- Central chemoreceptors on the ventral medulla respond to CSF H+ from CO2. They provide about 70 to 80% of the response to CO2 and none to hypoxia.
- Peripheral chemoreceptors (carotid bodies via the glossopharyngeal nerve, aortic bodies via the vagus) respond to low PaO2, high PaCO2 and metabolic acidosis.
Loading the rest of the note…
Finished reading?
Sources
- West's Respiratory Physiology: The Essentials (11th ed.)Wolters Kluwer (West and Luks, 2021), 2021
- Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Position Statement on Acute Oxygen Use in Adults: 'Swimming between the flags'AU/NZRespirology (Barnett et al.), 2022
- Adaptive Servo-Ventilation for Central Sleep Apnea in Systolic Heart Failure (SERVE-HF)New England Journal of Medicine (Cowie et al.), 2015
- Evaluation and Management of Obesity Hypoventilation Syndrome: An Official American Thoracic Society Clinical Practice GuidelineAmerican Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (Mokhlesi et al.), 2019
- Last updated
- 14 November 2026
What changed
- 14 November 2026 Turnstile bot check on sign-in and signed-out feedback