How does the brain not control our breathing?

Question: How does the brain not control our breathing?

Asked by ash001 to Fiona, Joanna, Michelle, William on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: General.
- William Davies answered on 23 Jun 2010:
  
  The brain does control our breathing – the part that does this is called the pons and it tells the lungs to inhale or exhale. The pons is helped by another region of the primitive bit of the brain called the medulla oblongata – this has lots of chemoreceptors which monitor how much carbon dioxide is in your blood – if there’s lots, you need to breathe out, if not, you need to breathe in
- Fiona Randall answered on 23 Jun 2010:
  
  It does to some extent. Breathing is spontaneous and not consciously done by us but if we are unconscious sometimes we need an artificial respirator to keep us alive.
- Joanna Brooks answered on 23 Jun 2010:
  
  Hi again! The brain does control our breathing. There are special parts of the ‘brainstem’ which help regulate our breathing. The brainstem sends and receives electrical impulses to control our breathing – when we need to breathe faster (during exercise) or slower (during sleep) for example.

Question: How does the brain not control our breathing?