Current research is designed to examine the developmental aspects of the neural control of respiration, focusing on central pattern generation and central respiratory chemoreception. The evolution of terrestriality from aquatic gill breathing to terrestrial lung breathing required changes in the neural substrates controlling both respiratory rhythm and pattern generation, as well as central respiratory chemoreception. Amphibians, because of their unique transition from aquatic gill breathing in larval stages to terrestrial lung breathing as adults, offer remarkable opportunities to elucidate the neural changes necessary for the transition from aquatic to aerial respiration.
