What neural reflex prevents the lungs from over-inflating?

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Multiple Choice

What neural reflex prevents the lungs from over-inflating?

The concept here is how the body protects the lungs from expanding too far during breathing. The Hering-Breuer inflation reflex uses stretch receptors in the airways and pleura to detect lung inflation. When the lungs reach a maximal stretch, these receptors send signals via the vagus nerve to the brainstem to dampen inspiratory activity and switch to expiration, stopping further expansion. This protective mechanism helps prevent alveolar overdistension, and while it’s more prominent in infants, it still plays a role in adults. The other options don’t regulate lung inflation: the baroreceptor reflex adjusts heart rate and vascular tone in response to blood pressure; the gag reflex protects the airway during swallowing; and the pupillary reflex controls pupil size in response to light.

The concept here is how the body protects the lungs from expanding too far during breathing. The Hering-Breuer inflation reflex uses stretch receptors in the airways and pleura to detect lung inflation. When the lungs reach a maximal stretch, these receptors send signals via the vagus nerve to the brainstem to dampen inspiratory activity and switch to expiration, stopping further expansion. This protective mechanism helps prevent alveolar overdistension, and while it’s more prominent in infants, it still plays a role in adults. The other options don’t regulate lung inflation: the baroreceptor reflex adjusts heart rate and vascular tone in response to blood pressure; the gag reflex protects the airway during swallowing; and the pupillary reflex controls pupil size in response to light.

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