Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS is the primary cause of death before age 1 in the U.S. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 3,000 infants die from SIDS each year.

Researchers at the University of Chicago found strong evidence that a disturbance of a specific neurochemical can lead to sudden infant death syndrome. What happens during hypoxia (when serotonin levels are disturbed) has been described by the research team in a paper published in the March 8 issue of Journal of Neuroscience.

According to the researcher, when the body senses a lack of oxygen, it shuts down most of the cellular respiratory network and focuses its energy on gasping, which is modulated solely by sodium-driven pacemaker neurons. If that specific neuron is blocked, for whatever reason, the body cannot gasp.

This means there may be nothing wrong with a baby's breathing under normal conditions, but if the baby goes into hypoxia from a blocked airway or because the baby sleeps on its tummy and does not receive sufficient oxygen, the child needs the sodium-driven pacemakers in order to gasp, which wakes the baby and initiates movement or crying.

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