title: Sporadic apnea: paradoxical transformation to eupnea by perturbations that inhibit inspiration.
abstract: We speculate that sporadic apneas may be initiated and terminated by stochastic neural perturbations arising within or impinging upon the respiratory oscillator. A curious situation can then arise in which tiny perturbations that inhibit inspiration, paradoxically stimulate breathing. The plausibility of the hypothesis is supported by numerical analysis of a noisy attractor-cycle oscillator, and in studies of a preterm sleeping infant with sporadic apnea; low-level vibratory stimulation transformed the irregular apneic rhythm to eupnea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, St Elizabeth's Medical Center, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA. dpaydarf@opal.tufts.edu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Paydarfar
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Buerkel
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D008954:Models, Biological; D010812:Physical Stimulation; D015656:Respiratory Mechanics / Q000502:physiology; D012891:Sleep Apnea Syndromes / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D013269:Stochastic Processes; D014732:Vibration / Q000627:therapeutic use*