- located at the base of the brain stem
- monitor changes of Carbon Dioxide levels and send alarm signals to the brain, telling the lungs to breathe faster and more deeply
- when we’re breathing too quickly, the receptors tell the body to breathe more slowly to increase Carbon Dioxide levels
- Chemoreception is one the most fundamental functions of life
- first aerobic life forms had to sense carbon dioxide to avoid it
- as humans evolved chemoreception became more plastic
- humans could adapt to changing environments
- it it the ability to adapt to different levels of Carbon Dioxide and oxygen that helped humans colonize at different (and high) altitudes