Substantial advances have been made recently into the discovery of fundamental mechanisms underlying the neural control of breathing and even some inroads into translating these findings to treating breathing disorders. Here, we review several of these advances, starting with an appreciation of the importance of V̇_A:V̇CO₂:PaCO₂ relationships, then summarizing our current understanding of the mechanisms and neural pathways for central rhythm generation, chemoreception, exercise hyperpnea, plasticity, and sleep-state effects on ventilatory control. We apply these fundamental principles to consider the pathophysiology of ventilatory control attending hypersensitized chemoreception in select cardiorespiratory diseases, the pathogenesis of sleep-disordered breathing, and the exertional hyperventilation and dyspnea associated with aging and chronic diseases. These examples underscore the critical importance that many ventilatory control issues play in disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment.

最近在发现呼吸神经控制的基本机制方面取得了实质性进展，甚至在将这些发现转化为治疗呼吸障碍方面取得了一些进展。在这里，我们回顾其中的一些进展，首先了解 V̇ _A :V̇CO ₂ :PaCO ₂关系的重要性，然后总结我们目前对中枢节律产生、化学感受、运动呼吸过度、可塑性的机制和神经通路的理解，以及睡眠状态对通气控制的影响。我们应用这些基本原理来考虑特定心肺疾病中过敏性化学感受引起的通气控制的病理生理学、睡眠呼吸障碍的发病机制以及与衰老和慢性疾病相关的劳力性过度通气和呼吸困难。这些例子强调了许多通气控制问题在疾病发病机制、诊断和治疗中的至关重要性。