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Vertebrate Pattern Generation: Overview

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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

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Synonyms

CPG; Neural oscillator, Central pattern generator; Rhythm generator

Definition

Central pattern generator (CPG) is a limited neural network that can produce an organized rhythmic motor output in the absence of sensory and descending inputs from other parts of the nervous system (Marder and Calabrese 1996).

Detailed Description

Vertebrate Central Pattern Generators

The central and peripheral nervous systems in vertebrates contain many types of central pattern generators (CPGs) that generate and control various rhythmic movements. These CPGs control many important functions, including different forms of locomotion, such as swimming, walking, running, and flying, and non-locomotor processes and behaviors, such as breathing, swallowing, chewing, mastication, scratching, whisking (in rodents), and singing (in birds). This review focuses on computational models of locomotion and breathing in mammals, which are briefly observed below. Other known models of vertebrate CPGs include CPGs...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, 2900 Queen Lane, 19129, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Ilya Rybak

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  1. Ilya Rybak
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Correspondence to Ilya Rybak .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, FL, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Rybak, I. (2015). Vertebrate Pattern Generation: Overview. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-6675-8_758

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