1. This study investigates the mechanisms underlying the perception of breathlessness induced by hypoxia and hypercapnia in both naive normal subjects and patients with respiratory mechanical problems.
2. In normal subjects separately receiving both oscillating hypercapnic and hypoxic ventilatory stimulation, equivalent peak stimulus intensities in end-tidal gas were associated with a ‘damped’ ventilatory response when the frequency of stimulation was increased. A concomitant fall in peak breathlessness levels on a visual analogue scale was recorded in each case.
3. In normal subjects and patients, the voluntary copying of a ventilatory pattern recorded during oscillating hypercapnic stimulation was associated with a marked diminution or complete absence of breathlessness despite equivalent levels of peak ventilations achieved.
4. Voluntary copying of hypercapnic stimulated ventilation was not associated with any demonstrable change in the distribution of muscle movements between the chest wall and abdomen.
5. These results suggest that the intensity of breathlessness depends on the level of effective reflex stimulation of the respiratory-related neurones in the medulla. They cannot be explained solely in terms of perception of afferent neural information arising from either chemoreceptors or respiratory mechanoreceptors.
