respiratory center

Think of the respiratory center as the metronome and conductor for breathing: a cluster of nerve cells in the lower brain that sets the beat and continuously adjusts it without you having to think about it. It is why you keep breathing while asleep, talking, or distracted.

It is not a single spot but a network spread across the medulla oblongata and pons. Within the medulla, neuron groups generate the basic rhythm and drive the inspiratory muscles; the pons helps smooth the rhythm and the switch from breathing in to breathing out. These centers receive constant feedback about blood carbon dioxide, oxygen and acidity, and they can also be overridden voluntarily, for example when you hold your breath or speak.

The output travels down the spinal cord to the phrenic nerves and the muscles of breathing. Because the rhythm is automatic, damage to this region from stroke, trauma, drugs or sedatives can blunt or stop breathing even when the lungs themselves are healthy.