When you have a bad cough, how does your body stop itself from coughing when you’re sleeping?

Question

When you have a bad cough, how does your body stop itself from coughing when you’re sleeping?

In: 288

Answer 1

Coughing is a reflex and is routed through the brain: the nerves in the throat detect irritation, send a signal to a certain area of brain, which processes that signal and decides to issue another signal towards the nerves that control the muscles, initiating coughing. That decision-making can be superseded or suppressed if necessary, for example during sleep.