![]() It controls your body’s breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. The brain stem is a vital part for your brain and body to function. While there are some brain regions that you can live without, the brain stem is not one. To make a long story short: no, you cannot live without a brain stem. So the question that comes to mind is… Can you live without a brain stem? There are even cases where some people discovered that they’ve been living without their cerebellum their whole life! If you’re familiar with the cerebellum, you know that sometimes you can survive an injury to certain parts of the brain. Housing cranial nerve nuclei that are instrumental to movement and sensory functions.Ĭan You Recover From a Brain Stem Injury?.Controlling the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.Serving as communication between the brain and the spinal cord.To summarize, you can say that all the individual roles of the brain stem can be summed up into three main functions. Among other functions, the midbrain also houses parts involved in movement, motivation, and reward. This complex part of the brain contains numerous important structures, as well as a number of cranial nerves supporting the vision, facial and eye movement, as well as movement of neck and shoulder muscles.įunction: It gathers sensory information related to eye movements and visual and auditory processing. The midbrainįinally, there is the midbrain, which is located below the cerebral cortex and above the hindbrain in a central location underneath the brain. It also aids us in balance when we move and plays a role in cardiovascular and respiratory regulation and saliva production. These include the abducens nerve (eye movement), the facial nerve (facial expressions), and the trigeminal nerve (feeling in the face).įunction: It deals with sensations from the head and face, movement of the eyes, and mouth. This part of the brain stem is home to many vital nerves. Moving upwards is the pons, which serves as a bridge between the spinal cord and the cerebrum. It’s also responsible for a number of reflexive actions, like vomiting, swallowing, coughing, and sneezing. It contains two types of nerve fibers – myelinated (made up of white matter) and unmyelinated (made up of gray matter).įunction: It controls a wide range of involuntary processes like breathing, cardiovascular system, and digestion. Starting at the bottom, the medulla oblongata “grows” directly from the spinal cord. To summarize it, you can group them into the following three roles: The medulla oblongata It consists of three major divisions: the medulla oblongata, the pons, and the midbrain. Underneath them is the spinal cord, which can be observed as the root. If you look closely at the structure of the brain stem, you’ll notice that it looks much like an actual stem, while the cerebrum looks like a flower growing from it. What Are the 3 Parts of the Brainstem and Their Functions? In addition, the brain stem also serves as the connection between the cerebrum and the cerebellum, two of the four main regions of the brain. Its connection is made up of three pairs of nerve bundles known as cerebellar peduncles. Located just above the spinal cord, the brain stem connects the spinal cord to the cerebellum part of the brain. In this article, we will take a closer look at the structure, function, and importance of the brain stem. If you cut the flower off of the main stem, it will start to shrivel away and die. The main stem and roots represent your brain stem. To get an understanding of how important its role really is, consider this analogy…Ī flower and all its petals, small branches, and leaves represent your brain, body, and vital organs. Your whole body and the rest of your brain all rely on a healthy brain stem function. Breathing, swallowing, and digestion – only to name a few. It’s responsible for many vital functions. ![]() ![]() Despite its small size, the brain stem is one of the most important parts of your brain and body. The brain stem forms a bridge between the brain and the spinal cord and plays the most vital role of all. This tube-shaped region is about three inches long and is made up entirely of nervous tissue. The brain stem is the oldest, most primitive part of the human brain.
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