Breathing is an automatic behaviour that is essential for mammalian life and requires a coordinated contraction of respiratory muscles that must occur continuously, from birth until the last breath. In humans and other mammals the part of the brain that controls respiratory activity is the brainstem, where specialized groups of neurons generate a continuous rhythm that ultimately drives respiratory muscles. Two regions in the brainstem contribute to generate respiratory rhythms, the preBötzinger Complex (that drives inspiratory muscle activity) and the paraFacial Respiratory Group (that drives expiratory muscle activity).

Respiratory activity is also highly influenced by brain state activity, with abnormalities and irregularities occurring most frequently during sleep, when voluntary respiratory control is lacking, and chemosensitive and propriosensory feedback systems are often insufficient to maintain a rhythmic respiratory drive and airway patency (sleep disordered breathing).

Research conducted in the Pagliardini laboratory aims to gain an understanding of the neuronal mechanisms that control breathing and affect its function during sleep, when the majority of respiratory disorders of central origin occur. We are currently interested in delineating the function of a region in the brainstem that is crucial for the generation of expiratory activity, the paraFacial Respiratory Group. We aim to determine the contribution of this brainstem area to ventilation in health and disease. We use a combination of physiological, anatomical, pharmacological, chemogenetic and optogenetic techniques to test our hypotheses.

More recently we became interested in investigating the effects on ventilation of both cannabinoids and sex hormones. We use whole-body plethysmography, pharmacology, electrophysiology and molecular biology to determine the effects of cannabinoids on both sleep and breathing and the effects of sex hormones on breathing and chemosensitivity.

We are always looking for enthusiastic, motivated and reliable students to join our laboratory.

Undergraduate students interested in joining the lab for the summer, should make arrangement in the fall for the following summer. Undergraduate research projects for Honors students in Physiology and Neuroscience (PHYSL461,467,468/469; NEURO451,452;498/499) are also available during fall/winter terms.

Students interested in joining the lab as MSc or PhD candidates should contact directly Dr. Pagliardini with a letter of interest, a CV, a copy of undergraduate transcripts and a list of references. Priority will be given to students with background in neuroscience and physiology and prior laboratory experience in in vivo physiology, optogenetics and/or pharmacology.