State-dependent respiratory and cardiac relationships with neuronal discharge in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.

Discharge patterns of 63 neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) were cross-correlated with inspiratory onsets of the respiratory cycle and the R wave of the cardiac cycle in seven unrestrained, drug-free cats during waking (AW), quiet sleep (QS) and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. BNST neurons fired slowly, with half having rates of less than 1/second; rates were higher in AW and REM states than in QS. Approximately one-quarter of cells showed a phasic discharge timing relationship with the respiratory cycle, and one-fifth with the cardiac cycle, in at least one sleep-waking state.

Upper airway and diaphragmatic muscle activity following acute cocaine administration.

These studies examined activity of the diaphragm and a laryngeal dilator, the posterior cricoarytenoid, following 3 levels of intravenous and cerebral ventricular administration of cocaine. Both administration routes induced extremely high respiratory rates with enhanced tonic and phasic electromyographic activity, and affected patterning similarly in upper airway and diaphragmatic muscles. Both intravenous and intraventricular administration induced a rise in core and brain temperature related to the route of administration; however, the tachypnea was only loosely related to the hyperthermia.