  We present an experimental system of networks of coupled non-linear chemical
reactors, which we theoretically model within a reaction-diffusion framework.
The networks consist of patterned arrays of diffusively coupled nanoliter-scale
reactors containing the Belousov- Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction. Microfluidic
fabrication techniques are developed that provide the ability to vary the
network topology, the reactor coupling strength and offer the freedom to choose
whether an arbitrary reactor is inhibitory or excitatory coupled to its
neighbor. This versatile experimental and theoretical framework can be used to
create a wide variety of chemical networks. Here we design, construct and
characterize chemical networks that achieve the complexity of central pattern
generators (CPGs), which are found in the autonomic nervous system of a variety
of organisms.
