Neurologic mechanisms regulating cough in health and disease

Cough is a vital defensive response that can become a major clinical burden when it manifests as a persistent or hypersensitive state. Whereas acute cough is typically self-limiting, chronic cough can persist for decades, severely impacting an individual's quality of life. The neurobiology of cough involves vagal sensory neurons and complex brainstem and higher brain circuits that are responsible for the reflexive, behavioral, and cognitive regulation of cough and its accompanying sensory-related process, the urge-to-cough. This review summarizes the current state of knowledge on cough neurobiology and discusses the role of heterogeneous neurologic mechanisms contributing to disordered cough in clinical settings.