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Study finds role of mid-brain in integrating heart and respiratory response to exercise

04-29-2007 · EurekAlert!

Oxford University researchers recently examined several deep brain nuclei during exercise and have concluded that the periaqueductal grey area (PAG), the small-celled gray matter adjoining or surrounding the cerebral aqueduct and the third ventricle in the midbrain, contains the greatest number of neural changes in connection with anticipation of exercise. The findings provide direct evidence implicating the PAG as a key area of the brain's circuitry's affecting cardiorespiratory response to exercise.

Keywords: study, role, mid-brain, integrating, heart, respiratory, response, exercise, mid, brain

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For more information, please contact Ruth Metcalfe in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9739, mobile: +44 (0)7990 675 947, out of hours: +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: r.metcalfe@ucl.ac.uk2. 'Disruption of methylarginine metabolism impairs vascular homeostasis' is published in the February issue of the journal Nature Medicine. Advance online publication is embargoed to 18.00 GMT (13.00 US Eastern) Sunday 4 February 2007. Journalists can obtain copies of the paper by contacting the UCL Media Relations Office.3. The study was funded by the British Heart Foundation, the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. About UCL Founded in 1826, UCL was the first English university established after Oxford and Cambridge, the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender, and the first to provide systematic teaching of law, architecture and medicine. 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