Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Professor Stuart BakerORCiD, Dr Boubker Zaaimi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© 2026 The Author(s). Experimental Physiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society.Breathing rhythms influence brain activity, but whether they modulate the excitability of the reticulospinal tract (RST; a key pathway for motor control and recovery after stroke) remains unknown. In this study, we used the StartReact paradigm to examine how respiratory rhythms modulate RST excitability during motor tasks, measuring reaction times across visual, visual–auditory and visual–auditory startling conditions in three arm muscles (first dorsal interosseous, flexor digitorum superficialis and biceps) of healthy adults (n = 13). Reaction times decreased significantly from visual to visual–auditory to visual–auditory startling conditions. Crucially, respiratory-phase transitions, particularly from inspiration to expiration, significantly enhanced RST excitability specifically during startle-evoked responses, with StartReact effects being significantly stronger during respiratory transitions compared with mid-phases (P ≤ 0.011). These findings suggest that respiratory rhythms modulate RST excitability dynamically in a phase- and condition-specific manner. The identification of respiratory transition phases as optimal periods for RST activation could inform new neurorehabilitation strategies, such as respiratory-phase-aligned stimulation, to enhance motor recovery following corticospinal lesions.
Author(s): Thawer R, Baker SN, Zaaimi B
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Experimental Physiology
Year: 2026
Pages: epub ahead of print
Online publication date: 15/02/2026
Acceptance date: 22/01/2026
Date deposited: 22/01/2026
ISSN (print): 0958-0670
ISSN (electronic): 1469-445X
Publisher: Wiley
URL: https://doi.org/10.1113/EP093536
DOI: 10.1113/EP093536
Data Access Statement: All data supporting the results presented in this manuscript are included within the figures. Additional data and analysis scripts are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
