.. sleep. J. Appl. Physiol.: Respirat. Environ. Exercise Physiol. 44ftik 931-938, 1978. -Ten patients with daytime somnolence and obesity were found to have periodic airway occlusion (AO) during nocturnal sleep. The cyclical ventilatory pattern consisted of a series of regular inspiratory efforts against an occluded airway (occlusive phase) alternating with a period of regular breathing (ventilatory phase). Significant periods of central respiratory apnea were observed only in one case. The effects of pharyngeal intubation and pharyngeal pressure recordings showed that the locus of airway closure lay in the oropharynx. The genioglossal electromyogram (EMG) consistently revealed periodicity: low level activity at the onset of occlusion and prominent discharge at the instant of pharyngeal opening. In one case, this activity was closely related to pharyngeal patency, whereas in other cases there was considerable overlap between EMG values recorded during occluded and ventilatory phases. In these cases, the relationship of genioglossal discharge to pharyngeal pressure correlated with the presence or absence of pharyngeal occlusion. We speculate that genioglossal force act,s to open the oropharynx and that negative pharyngeal pressure promotes pharyngeal closure. The results are consistent with the idea that, once the pharvnx has collapsed, relative recruitment of genioglossal and inspiratory muscle act.ivity is such that the latter influence outstrips the former, so that pharyngeal transmural pressure increases more than genioglossal force. Pharyngeal opening occurs coincident with arousal and preferential activation of the genioglossus muscle of the tongue.

Pathogenesis of upper airway occlusion during sleep

Sleep-induced apnea and disordered breathing refers to intermittent, cyclical cessations or reductions of airflow, with or without obstructions of the upper airway (OSA). In the presence of an anat...

Pathophysiology of Sleep Apnea

An EEG-based brain-computer interface for cursor control

Obstructive sleep apnea in infants and children.

Mismatches between neurotransmitter and receptor localizations in brain: observations and implications.

Comparative polygraphic study of the 24 hour cycle in Pickwickians, the obese and narcoleptics.

Periods of suppression of muscular activity related to the spike of spike and wave discharges.

Studies on spike and wave discharges in man. II. Clinical and EEG aspects of myoclonic absences.

Study of the passage of insulin (bovine insulin) from plasma to the cerebrospinal fluid in cats

EEG aspects of acute intermittent porphyria.

H Gastaut

Papers

Comparative polygraphic study of the 24 hour cycle in Pickwickians, the obese and narcoleptics.

Periods of suppression of muscular activity related to the spike of spike and wave discharges.

Studies on spike and wave discharges in man. II. Clinical and EEG aspects of myoclonic absences.

Study of the passage of insulin (bovine insulin) from plasma to the cerebrospinal fluid in cats

EEG aspects of acute intermittent porphyria.