Central Pattern Generators (CPGs) are networks of nerve cells in the central nervous system that generate the basic patterned electrical  activity underlying most rhythmic behaviors like walking and breathing in all animals.

We are taking advantage of the experimental accessibility of the crustacean nervous system to uncover fundamental principles that govern neural processing across all animals and human nervous systems.

Our laboratory is part of the Federal Department of Biological Sciences at NJIT and Rutgers University-Newark.  It is run by three Principal Investigators, Farzan Nadim, Jorge Golowasch, and Dirk Bucher, all faculty in the department.  

 











  
                    


Latest Publications



    
	
  • Nelly Daur, Farzan Nadim, and Dirk Bucher published a review paper on the stomatogastric nervous system in Current Opinion in Neurobiology Daur N, Nadim F and Bucher D (2016) The complexity of small circuits: the stomatogastric nervous system. Curr Opin Neurobiol 41:1-7. Journal

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  • Xinping Li and Farzan Nadim, together with the Rotstein Lab in the NJIT Math Department, published a paper in the Journal of Neurophysiology on how membrane resonance properties and electrical coupling affect network frequency. Chen Y, Li X, Rotstein HG and Nadim F (2016) Membrane potential resonance frequency directly influences network frequency through electrical coupling. J Neurophysiol doi: 10.1152/jn.00361.2016. [Epub ahead of print]. PubMed

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  • Jorge Golowasch, together with the Rotstein Group from the NJIT Math Department, published a theory paper in The Journal of Neurophysiology on how variable ionic currents can produce similar rhythmic activity patterns. Rotstein HG, Olarinre M, and Golowasch J (2016) Dynamic compensation mechanism give rise to period and duty cycle level sets in oscillatory neuronal models. J J Neurophysiol 116(5):2431-2452. PubMed

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  • Michael Gray and Jorge Golowasch published a paper on how the voltage-dependence of a modulator-activated current is regulated by intracellular signaling pathways activated by extracellular calcium. ​Gray M and Golowasch J (2016) Voltage dependence of a neuromodulator-activated ionic current. eNeuro doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0038-16.2016. PubMed
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