brain stems
Spinal cord connectors
Brain stems is the plural of brain stem, the stalk-like structure connecting the brain to the spinal cord.
It controls vital involuntary functions—breathing, heart rate, sleep cycles, and the relay of signals between brain and body.
Damage to their brain stems left both patients in vegetative states.
- ponsBrainstem relay station
- life supportSystems maintaining vital functions
- medullaInnermost organ tissue
- neurologyMedical science of nerves
- reflexesAutomatic physical responses
midbrain · thalami · locked-in syndrome · vital functions · cranial nerves · nerve pathways · Chiari malformation · cerebellum · respiration · sleep-wake cycle · spinal cord · nuclei · medulla oblongata · motor control · central nervous system · stroke · neuroscience · consciousness
brain anatomy hierarchy
brain stemscerebral cortex
Brain's outer neural sheet
cortex · neocortex · cerebrum · frontal lobes · prefrontal cortex