Why is breathing both voluntary and involuntary?

OK according to my brother circular breathing IS conscious but is only used very short term, for a couple of seconds and then you go back to the type of breathing that anyone uses while singing for instance. He said you need to be reminded to do it and that people will plan for it in certain parts or mark on the music when its needed. He also said that its easier for didgeridoo players compared to tuba players (such as himself) and therefore they can do it a little longer but they still breath normally for most of the time.

 

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Thanks. And pls call me Aaq.

 

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EDIT:

Aaq and elte, here is part of the wiring diagram you were talking about. The unconscious aspect of breathing is controlled through the autonomic nervous system as shown below.

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I think the question about the origins of conscious and unconscious breathing is an interesting one. Hindbrain functions are present in lower animals. So what would cause the evolution of the second parallel path?

Since lungs evolved in fish, it would be an interesting exercise to trace the nervous system development from just before the primordial lungfish to the first tetrapod. I'm not certain if it's been decided with certainty that the ancestral fish with the inflatable swim bladders came first. There would be a cortical function (a need or instinct) driving the fish's instinctive decision to rise or descend. It would seem require a separate control path to do that. Maybe there was a hindbrain function that evolved in parallel with this to force the airways shut whenever diving, so a distraction (such as a predator) wouldn't cause them to inadvertently dump air and lose buoyancy.

 

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Um dude, unless im so tired im missing something in your piture thats ONLY the autonomic nervious system. This is divided into the Para and the symathetic but they work together. One is the accelorator (the sympathetic) and the other is the break (the parasympathetic), nither of those are under concious control.

 

No, you are alert, I messed that up. I will edit and correct. Thanks, Asguard.

 

Maybe has to do with the possibility of voluntary sounds.
With the ability to speak for humans.

 

Aqueous Id, it's interesting how there is so much nerve control on the heart.

 

How do the researchers map out that wiring chart?

 

I would say that any animal that produces utterances with its breathing tract (even hissing in snakes) must, out of necessity, have conscious control of its breathing. This includes mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. I would say not for spiders, insects, worms, fish, arthropods, crustaceans, etc.