Sleep-related breathing disorders (SRBDs), such as apnoea and hypopnoea, afflict over 50% of patients with stroke, and were assumed to reflect the effects of the stroke lesion on specific CNS regions involved in the regulation of breathing. A study recently published in PLOS ONE, however, found no significant relationship between the location of the stroke lesion and the risk of developing an SRBD. The new findings contrast with several previous studies, which indicated a link between brainstem infarcts and SRBDs. The researchers did find an association between classic risk factors for SRBDs — including age, BMI and arterial hypertension — and the prevalence of SRBDs after stroke, and they propose that cerebral ischaemia could exacerbate a pre-existing susceptibility to SRBDs rather than having a direct causal role in these disorders.