Book excerpt: This book describes control of ventilation during sleep in both health and disease states. The topics are presented in a fashion that can be easily comprehended with many figures to illustrate complex concepts. Thus, a wide range of topics, starting from the site of normal respiratory rhythm generation to chemoreceptor control of sleep apnea, description of the apneic threshold, pathophysiology of upper airway closure, novel techniques to measure control of breathing, effect of cerebral blood flow on breathing, effect of opioids on ventilation, effect of heart failure on ventilation, genetic aspects of breathing disorders, age and gender differences, and various therapies are discussed. Key Features • Helps to bridge the gap between straight forward physiology and clinical practice through a range of topics and use of case vignettes • Explores various aspects of clinical management and control which is beneficial to sleep clinicians, respiratory physiologists, intensivists, trainees, and researchers. • Distills complex concepts into understandable language and figures, providing helping resource to the clinicians, that transforms a dry topic vis a viz control of ventilation into an exciting understandable ‘clinician’ language.