There is a problem with the results of this study. In Idiopathic Central Sleep Apnea (ICSA) the apnea goes away during REM sleep. This is the opposite of the findings. Also, in many cases with ICSA treating with oxygen helps and can completely abolish the condition. The assumed reason is that the patient is hypocapnic and providing oxygen raises the CO2 level in the brain by increasing the dissolved O2 which decreases the ability to transport CO2 from the brain.

That raises the CO2 above the eucapnic threshold and the central receptors then stimulate breathing. I can attest that it works in myself. Also, even during full apnea episodes there are still tiny signals being transmitted from the pattern generator but are insufficient to cause breathing. I have developed my own instrumentation to record these signals that are more sensitive than those conventionally used for polysomnography.