Central Pattern Generators

Central pattern generators (CPGs) are circuits of neurons – coupled by chemical synapses and often gap junctions (Marder et al., Dev Neurobiol 77:597–609, 2017) as well – that produce a limited repertoire of network outputs; the outputs typically are used to drive a motor behavior. The motor behaviors in invertebrates include (but are not limited to) driving a heartbeat (Stent et al., Physiol Rev 59:101–136, 1979), grinding up food, flying, and walking. In the case of vertebrates, they include (but are not limited to) locomotion, breathing, chewing, and swallowing. The output of a CPG is often rhythmic but need not be – think of a sneeze or a yawn. Many of the functions of CPGs are essential to life.