Spontaneous autoresuscitation in a model of respiratory control

We introduce a closed-loop model of respiratory control incorporating a conductance-based central pattern generator (CPG), low-pass filtering of CPG output by the respiratory musculature, gas exchange in the lung, metabolic oxygen demand, and chemosensation. The CPG incorporates Butera, Rinzel and Smith (BRS)'s (1999) conditional pacemaker model. BRS model cells can support quiescent, bursting, or beating activity depending on the level of excitatory drive; we identify these activity modes with apnea (cessation of breathing), eupnea (normal breathing), and tachypnea (excessively rapid breathing). We demonstrate the coexistence of two dynamically stable behaviors in the closed-loop model, corresponding respectively to eupnea and tachypnea. The latter state represents a novel failure mode within a respiratory control model. In addition, the closed-loop system exhibits a form of autoresuscitation: conductances intrinsic to the BRS model buffer the CPG against brief episodes of hypoxia, steering the system away from catastrophic collapse as can occur with tachypnea.