In addition, the center likely overlaps with the respiratory rhythm generator networks.
[2] It is hence not so much a specific area, but a function within the respiration and reflex networks of the brainstem.
In particular, the pre-Bötzinger complex may act as a pattern generator for the cough response.
Other systems that may be involved in pattern generation and regulation are the pontine respiratory group, the lateral tegmental field and the deep cerebellar nuclei.
[4][5] Coughing can occur or be inhibited as a voluntary action, suggesting control from higher systems in the brain.