Further Evidence for the Existence of a Pulmonary Respiratory 'Oscillator' in Early Postnatal Life

The newborn actively maintains its lung volume above functional residual capacity (Olinsky et al. 1974). Inspiratory intercostal muscle tone has been suggested as an important mechanism (Lopes et al. 1981) for this and there is a reduction in functional residual capacity during active sleep when the intercostal muscles are generally inactive (Henderson-Smart and Read 1979).