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Respiratory rate
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Respiratory rate is, literally, how many times you breathe in a minute. It sounds trivial, but the body does not leave it to chance: it is adjusting it all the time.
The underlying rhythm starts in a very specific place. In the medulla oblongata, the lower part of the brain that connects to the spinal cord, there is a small group of neurons called the pre-Bötzinger complex that generates that beat and keeps modifying it. It is an internal metronome that other sensors speed up or slow down.
Those sensors are real. The carotid bodies, which sit in the neck where the carotid artery splits in two, monitor the oxygen in the blood and its pH, and when something changes the respiratory center responds by changing the rate and also the volume of each breath.
In a resting adult, 12 to 20 breaths per minute is the usual range. Children breathe faster than adults, and that is normal for them. Respiratory rate is also counted among the vital signs, along with blood pressure, temperature and pulse.
In brief
Respiratory rate is the number of breaths per minute, and it is tightly regulated.
The underlying rhythm comes from the pre-Bötzinger complex, a group of neurons in the medulla.
An internal metronome that other sensors speed up or slow down.
The carotid bodies monitor oxygen and pH, and the center changes rate and volume.
In a resting adult, 12 to 20 breaths per minute is typical.
Children breathe faster; it is one of the routine vital signs.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingPhysiology, Respiratory Rate, StatPearlsPublished
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