What happens to respiratory drive when you hold your breath? does it increase o!
Question:
What happens to respiratory drive when you hold your breath? does it increase or decrease?
Answers:
it increases. the main respiratory drive is dependent on metabolically produced CO2. thus it is constant. when you stop breathing cells continue to produce metabolic CO2 as a by-product to cellular respiration. these increased levels in the blood stream affect the acidity of the CSF or spinal fluid - this increased acidity from not breathing out CO2 triggers receptors instructing the brain to breathe.