Neuromechanical interaction in human snoring and upper airway obstruction

The fact that snoring and obstructive apnea only occur during sleep means that effective neuromuscular functioning of the upper airway during sleep is vital for the maintenance of unimpeded breathing. Recent clinical studies in humans have obtained evidence demonstrating that upper airway neural receptors sense the negative pressure generated by inspiration and “trigger,” with a certain delay, reflex muscle activation to sustain the airway that might otherwise collapse. These findings have enabled us to propose a model in which the mechanics is coupled to the neuromuscular physiology through the generation of reflex wall stiffening proportional to the retarded fluid pressure. Preliminary results on this model exhibit three kinds of behavior typical of unimpeded breathing, snoring, and obstructive sleep apnea, respectively. We suggest that the increased latency of the reflex muscle activation in sleep, together with the reduced strength of the reflex, have important clinical consequences.