The Behavior
Rhythmic movements are motor acts that are characterized by the activation of groups of muscles in a recurring or cyclic pattern. Rhythmic movements are found in all animals ranging from invertebrates to man and include various behaviors that are continuously ongoing, like respiration, are episodic, like swimming, mastication and walking, or brief like scratching and the startle response. The rhythmic movements are generated by localized neuronal networks, called central pattern generators, or CPGs. Activity in the CPGs directly controls the timing (rhythm) and phasing (pattern) of Motoneurons, whose activity in turn activates the musclesneeded to generate the rhythmic movements; e.g., the limb muscles acting on the leg during walking or intercostals muscles and the diaphragm acting on the lungs during respiration. Thus, the term CPG alludes to the fact that these neuronal networks are restricted to specific regions of the central nervous system and, when appropriately...
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Kiehn, O. (2009). Rhythmic Movements. In: Binder, M.D., Hirokawa, N., Windhorst, U. (eds) Encyclopedia of Neuroscience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-29678-2_5157
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