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DumbNBANephew t1_jd9o6cq wrote

Reply to comment by GeriatricHydralisk in (Biology) How far down your spine can you break before respiratory impairment? by Anomaly-Friend

Still doesn't answer the question completely though. Are there other nerves that are involved with breathing and somehow originate lower? Do we know for sure that an injury beyond C5/C6 would NOT affect breathing?

Or is it only nerves from C5 and above that affect breathing?

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GeriatricHydralisk t1_jdae8gr wrote

As others note, lower nerves innervate the intercostals and abdominals. But the diaphragm is both necessary and sufficient for human ventilation, and is innervated exclusively by the phrenic nerves (left and right), which originate from those three levels.

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