Respiratory Event-Related Potentials in Patients With Spinal Cord Injury

Study Summary

Dyspnea is "a subjective experience of breathing discomfort that consists of qualitatively distinct sensations that vary in intensity". It is known that sensory information from the respiratory system activates regions of the cerebral cortex to produce the perception of dyspnea but far less is known about the neurophysiology of dyspnea than about vision, hearing, or even pain. Dyspnea likely arises from multiple nervous system sources, but the exact locations have not been well identified. Investigations of the mechanisms underlying respiratory sensations have included studies of airway anesthesia, chest wall strapping, exercise, heart-lung transplantation, hyperventilation, and opioid use. Study of the perception of breathing sensations in individuals with a spinal cord injury presents additional opportunity. The goal of the proposed project is to examine the effects of increasingly severe levels of spinal cord injury on the perception of breathing sensations in participants who are able to breathe without the use of a ventilator. The investigators hypothesize that the perception of breathing varies with the extent of somatosensory information that reaches cerebral cortex.