Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) and the Physiology of Movement: A New Perspective on MC

Recent theories on MC have shifted away from the idea of MC as a fundamentally reactive system, focusing instead on the physiology of actions. A specific motor response can be elicited by either a sensory stimulus or by a central process without any afferent stimulus or impulse. As such, it is more accurate to refer to a central motor pattern. This theory, primarily supported by locomotion analyses in cats, suggests that movement is possible even without a reflex action. The spinal neural network can generate locomotor rhythms without any sensory stimuli or descending patterns from the brain, and movement can be elicited without feedback.3 This theory also introduces the concept of central pattern generators (CPGs), specific neural circuits capable of generating movements such as walking or running. Incoming sensory stimuli exert a significant modulatory effect on CPGs.