Neural and mechanical mechanisms of feline purring

Remmers and Gautier examined how cats generate the purr by combining electromyographic recordings of respiratory and laryngeal muscles with airflow measurements. They found that purring involves rhythmic bursts of activity in the muscles controlling the glottis, alternately constricting and releasing it so that airflow during breathing is repeatedly interrupted, producing the characteristic vibration on both inhalation and exhalation. The pattern implied a central neural oscillator driving the rapid, regular muscle activity rather than a purely mechanical or aerodynamic origin. This classic physiological study established the framework of active, centrally generated laryngeal modulation that dominated explanations of purring for decades, and it remains a key reference in subsequent debates about whether purring also has passive biomechanical components rooted in the structure of the vocal folds.