Breathing is a remarkable behavior. At rest, rhythmic breathing movements are stable and regular, yet when meta­bolic demand changes, or respiratory-related behaviors, such as coughing, sighing, or speaking, are engaged, breath­ing changes rapidly and dramatically. Diseases affecting the respira­tory CPG, e.g., central sleep apneas, Rett syndrome and Parkinson’s disease, cause serious adverse health consequences and even death. Among mammalian CPGs, only for breathing has a localized rhythmogenic neural circuit, the preBötzinger Com­plex (preBötC), been identi­fied, presenting an inimitable oppor­tunity to study sensorimotor processing. The preBötC, a bilateral neural circuit in the ventro­lateral medulla, is necessary for inspiratory rhythmo­genesis in vitro and in vivo. pre­BötC neurons rhythmically gene­rate bursts to produce inspira­tory airflow and to entrain other rhythmic orofacial beha­viors, such as whisking and sniffing. Inhibitory, neuro­mod­u­latory, and sensory inputs can modify this rhyth­micity and alter respiratory pat­tern to coor­dinate breathing with sensation, volition, and other movements from birth through­out life.