I am a neurologist and researcher of the pathological effects that exaggerated sympathetic responses exert on different body systems. In 2012, after years of scientific and clinical training in neuroscience, immunology, and neurology, I took a recreational freediving course that unexpectedly introduced me to the most powerful neurological reflex I know: the mammalian diving response (MDR). This multi-pronged neurological response to prolonged voluntary and involuntary apnea, provides a unique theoretical framework which matches the pathophysiological effects routinely associated with potentially lethal seizures, and the autopsy findings associated with SUDEP victims.
