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What Is the Brain Stem and What Does It Do?

The brain stem is the oldest, most primitive part of the human brain. This tube-shaped region is about three inches long and is made up entirely of nervous tissue. The brain stem forms a bridge between the brain and the spinal cord and plays the most vital role of all.

Despite its small size, the brain stem is one of the most important parts of your brain and body. It’s responsible for many vital functions. Breathing, swallowing, and digestion – only to name a few. Your whole body and the rest of your brain all rely on a healthy brain stem function.

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 Midbrain, Pons, and Medulla: Anatomy and Syndromes

Brainstem syndromes are usually due to vascular occlusion of branches of the posterior circulation or mass effect secondary to space-occupying lesions. Knowledge of the complex function and anatomy of this region is key to understanding the wide spectrum of disease.

Articles of Interest

Know Your Brain: Brainstem

Although it is the most evolutionarily ancient part of our brain, the brainstem is still very complex and has a long list of roles that haven't been included here. The brainstem may not provide us with the higher intelligence we normally associate with being human, but it does carry all of the information to and from those areas we do associate with higher intelligence. And, just as importantly (if not more so), it ensures the vital functions necessary to support those areas continue uninterrupted.

What is the Human Brain Stem?

The human brainstem appears to be like a stalk emanating from your brain. It serves to connect your brain to your spinal cord through nerve tissue stemming up and down your spine and is part of your central nervous system (CNC). Spaces inside allow veins and arteries to supply blood flow to your brain.

Everything You Need to Know About Brain Stem Function

Of your brains four main regions, the brain stem function probably plays the most vital role of all. Your brain as a whole along with your body’s vital organs, all rely on a healthy brain stem function.

Michelangelo hid brain stem in God's throat

Michelangelo's depiction of God's throat in one panel of his Sistine Chapel fresco is notably awkward. Now researchers think it's because Michelangelo intentionally embedded an image of a human brain stem.

The Amazing Brain: A Sharper Image of the Pyramidal Tract

For a while now, it’s been possible to combine a specialized form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with computer modeling tools to produce 3D reconstructions of complicated networks of nerve fibers, such as the pyramidal tract.

The Brainstem: Anatomy, Assessment, and Clinical Syndromes

In summary, the literature indicates a variety of circumscribed cognitive deficits may occur after brainstem insults, and these do not always completely resolve. The profile of deficits seen in well-studied individuals implicates disruption of the frontal-subcortical system, with specific impact on regions involved in attentional and executive functioning.

The Two-Point Method: Evaluating Brain Stem Lesions

The objective in using the two-point method is to select the approach that leads to the pathology while avoiding incision of brain stem tissue. Hence most lesions that are to be approached surgically are close to or contact a pial or ependymal surface.

Unique features of the human brainstem and cerebellum

How is the human brainstem unique? We have identified five principles distinguishing human brainstem organization from that of other species.

Resources

KenHub

All of these brainstem functions are enabled because of its unique anatomy; since the brainstem houses cranial nerve nuclei and is a passageway for many important neural pathways.

Physiopedia

Although it is the most evolutionary ancient part of our brain, the brainstem is still very complex and important. The brainstem may not provide us with the higher intelligence we normally associate with being human, but it does carry all of the information to and from those areas we do associate with higher intelligence.

StatPearls

The brainstem is the structure that connects the cerebrum of the brain to the spinal cord and cerebellum. It is composed of three sections in descending order: the midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata. It is responsible for many vital functions of life, such as breathing, consciousness, blood pressure, heart rate, and sleep. The brainstem contains many critical collections of white and grey matter.

TeachMe Anatomy

The importance of the brainstem is hard to overstate, as many of the key functions of the body are regulated here.