Library · Physiology
Cough reflex
Make it clearer
Coughing is a reflex, not a decision: it keeps the throat and airways clear and expels secretions, things that irritate and foreign material that should not be there.
The circuit starts at receptors scattered through the airway. When something sets them off, the signal travels up the vagus nerve to the cough center, which sits in the medulla, and from there the command travels down to the muscles that drive breathing.
The movement itself has three phases. First a deep breath in. Then a forceful contraction of the expiratory muscles with the glottis closed, that is, with the airway's door latched shut. And finally that door flies open and the air shoots out. It is squeezing air with the exit latched shut, then unlatching it all at once.
In brief
Coughing is a reflex that keeps the throat and airways clear, and it expels secretions, irritants and foreign material.
The arc starts at airway receptors; the signal travels up the vagus nerve to the cough center in the medulla, and the command travels down to the respiratory muscles.
The movement is a deep breath in, a forceful expiratory contraction against a closed glottis and a sudden opening that launches the air out.
It is squeezing air with the exit latched shut, then unlatching it all at once.
Sources (2)
- MedlinePlus, U.S. National Library of MedicineCough, MedlinePlusPublished
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingCough: Evaluation and Management, StatPearlsPublished
This page explains the topic in general terms; it does not tell anyone what treatment to follow.
Updated