Home > Medicine > Anatomy and Physiology > Anatomy and Physiology

Research topic:brain stem

brain stem. Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)

Find more facts and information on our topic page about brain stem

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-brainste.html" title="Facts and informations about brain stem">brain stem</a>

Give this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon

brain stem

From: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008 | Copyright information

brain stem lower part of the brain , adjoining and structurally continuous with the spinal cord. The upper segment of the human brain stem, the pons, contains nerve fibers that connect the two halves of the cerebellum . It is vital in coordinating movements involving right and left sides of the body. Below the pons and continuous with the spinal cord is the medulla, which transmits ascending and descending nerve fibers between the spinal cord and the brain. The medulla also directly controls many involuntary muscular and glandular activities, including breathing, heart contraction, artery dilation, salivation, vomiting, and probably laughing. The nuclei of some of the nerves that originate in the brain are also located in the brain stem. Nerve fibers in the brain stem do not readily regenerate, hence injury may result in permanent loss of function. See also nervous system .

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"brain stem." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 4 Dec. 2008 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"brain stem." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (December 4, 2008). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-brainste.html

"brain stem." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved December 04, 2008 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-brainste.html

Learn more about citation styles

Related newspaper, magazine, and trade journal articles from HighBeam Research

(Including press releases, facts, information, and biographies)

	LETTER : Defining life and death Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 3/22/1996; ; 286 words ; ...March) discusses the concept of brain and brain stem death and states that some of the "recent...Medical Colleges for the diagnosis of brain stem death and regained consciousness. The...safely diagnose the irreversible loss of brain stem function the patient must satisfy various... Read more
	Organ donation: Brain stem death Magazine article from: British Journal of Perioperative Nursing; 1/1/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...series concludes with an examination of brain stem death, and in particular the literature...ignore. MARILYN WILLIAMS SERIES EDITOR `BRAIN STEM DEATH' is a determinant of death that...degree of understanding and acceptance of brain stem death has been shown to be a significant... Read more
	Diffuse cerebral anoxia and brain stem death Magazine article from: Synergy; 4/1/2005; ; 700+ words ; Introduction The brain stem comprises of the medulla, pons and...formation is the central core of the brain stem and contains the vital reflex centres...destroyed, the condition is described as brain stem death.2 Anoxia is a condition in which... Read more
	The brain stem in brain death: a critical review. Magazine article from: Issues in Law & Medicine; 6/22/1993; ; 700+ words ; ...all the functions of the entire brain, even of the brain stem, as the UDDA specifies.(6) Structure and Function of the Brain Stem Two and a half inches in length (6-1/2 cm), the brain stem extends at the base of the brain from the spinal cord... Read more
	Mapping of brain stem neuronal circuitry active during swallowing Magazine article from: The Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology; 6/1/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...poorly understood neural circuit in the brain stem controls swallowing. This experiment studied the swallowing circuit in the rat brain stem by means of fos immunocytochemistry...positive for fos were marked on drawings of brain stem structures for different levels throughout... Read more
	Scientists finally find where to scratch. (nerve fibers responsible for itching) Magazine article from: Science News; 10/18/1997; ; 585 words ; ...itching. The characteristics of the nerve fibers fit a previously proposed model for...of electric impulses along myelinated nerve fibers is blocked. However, such itching does...itching response to locate 56 unmyelinated nerve fibers branching from one of the major nerves... Read more
	Consciousness in the raw: the brain stem may orchestrate the basics of awareness.(hydranencephaly and other brain diseases) Magazine article from: Science News; 9/15/2007; ; 700+ words ; ...internal and external world depends on the brain stem, the often-overlooked cylinder of tissue...and the cortex. Merker argues that the brain stem supports an elementary form of conscious...impairs vision, regardless of what the brain stem does. Self-awareness and other higher... Read more
	NEW HOPE FOR TREATING BRAIN DAMAGE.(News) Newspaper article from: Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Seattle, WA); 5/19/1998; 389 words ; ...experimental treatment grew new nerve fibers that once again let them climb...devastating because damaged nerve fibers in adults do not regenerate on their own. The growth of new nerve fibers in the rats enabled them to...researchers first cut through nerve fibers in a ... Read more
	Letter: Transplant scare Newspaper article from: The Independent - London; 3/5/1999; ; 253 words ; ...March) misunderstands the concept of brain stem death and procedures of organ donation...exacting criteria for the diagnosis of brain stem death, before which organ donation and...and the patient has a blood pressure, brain stem death implies the death of the brain... Read more
	Treatment Helps Rats Grow New Nerve Fibers Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 5/19/1998; 218 words ; Brain-damaged rats that were given injections...experimental treatment grew new nerve fibers that once again let them climb...approaches to spinal cord and brain injuries in humans. These injuries...particularly devastating because damaged nerve fibers in adults do not regenerate ... Read more

For more facts and information, see all related premium articles

Related entries from encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses

	brain stem Book article from: The Oxford Companion to the Body brain stem The brain within the skull and the spinal...mushroom cap, is an elongated structure, the brain stem. With the cerebellum behind and above it...smaller, back part of the skull cavity. The brain stem forms a bridge between cerebrum and spinal... Read more
	brain stem Book article from: A Dictionary of Zoology brain stem The part of the brain which still conforms with the organization of the spinal cord. The brain stem is divided into four regions anterior to posterior: diencephalon , mesencephalon , metencephalon , and myelencephalon . Read more
	brain stem Book article from: World Encyclopedia brain stem Stalk-like portion of the brain in vertebrates that includes everything except the cerebellum...signals passing between the spinal cord and the higher parts of the brain. It also controls automatic functions such as breathing and heartbeat... Read more
	Brain Death Encyclopedia entry from: Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying ...of brain function," including the brain stem, although the heartbeat may continue...intelligence, may be dead while the brain stem, which controls basic life support...functioning. Death is equivalent to brain stem death. The brain stem, which is less... Read more
	stem cells Book article from: The Oxford Companion to the Body ...of the heart, skin, brain, kidney, and other...have some multipotent stem cells, especially...even in the adult brain, previously thought...are populations of stem cells, which are constantly...the patient's own stem cells could be harvested...certain parts of the brain), multi-plied ... Read more