Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Homza Hireed

The Role of Lactate in Exercise-Induced Hyperventilation

During Exercise, there is an increased demand for energy. To produce energy required to perform work and sustain physical activity, respiration must match the elevated metabolic demand. Although the signaling mechanisms is unknown for the acute ventilatory response to exercise, lactate is known to accumulate in the blood stream. To determine lactate’s role as a chemical signal, I will be conducting behavioral experiments to assay whether lactate and other metabolites play a key role in exercise-induced hyperventilation through activation of the carotid body. I will be doing treadmill experiments as well as whole animal plethysmography to assay lactate’s role in increasing ventilation.

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