Are central respiratory chemoreceptors confined to ventrolateral medulla?
There is ample evidence that the ventrolateral medulla (VLM) is involved in regulation of respiration. The VLM is considered to be the site of location of the central respiratory chemoreceptors. Neither neuroanatomical nor neurophysiological coordinates of the chemoreceptor have ever been indisputably identified or verified, despite decades of research. This commentary addresses new hypotheses concerning the process of central chemoreception and recent findings calling into question the exclusivity of VLM for the chemoreceptor location and function. These findings rekindle the possibility of medullary respiratory neurons being chemosensors. Crucial issues concerning the central chemoreception remain unsettled and are open to further research.
