What are functions of the brainstem?
The brainstem is a sort of automatic control center for several important involuntary actions of the body, such as heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, and many reflexes.
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Transcript
[Crowd noise]
NARRATOR: Despite its protective coverings, the brain is still a vulnerable organ. Repeated blows can cause permanent damage over time, and a single severe blow, even if it doesn't crack the skull or damage the brain, can disrupt the brain's normal operation and knock the victim unconscious [sound of heart beating]. Thinking ceases. Conscious control of muscle is lost. Sensory information is not heeded, and yet the heart continues to beat and the lungs to draw air.
These vital mechanisms are controlled by one of the brain's most durable parts--the brain stem. The brain stem is an automatic control center for many such important involuntary actions of the body. And, it is a pathway for impulses travelling back and forth between the body and the rest of the brain.
Consider the body as a kind of machine with certain basic actions that must be maintained and coordinated no matter what the state of our mind. The brain stem helps serve this purpose. It regulates heartbeat and respiration. It helps to wake up the rest of the brain from sleep by activating the other areas. It regulates blood pressure moment by moment. If it failed to do so, we would faint every time we stood up. It controls certain reflex actions such as blinking and the adjustment of the eyes to varying light. It guides involuntary actions necessary for eating such as the production of saliva and coordination of the muscles used to swallow. We are then free to think about other things, but it will not allow us to neglect the body's basic needs when the time comes. For example, if food goes down the wrong way, the brain stem will force us to cough. If the brain stem is damaged, the repercussions can be severe--paralysis, coma, death.
NARRATOR: Despite its protective coverings, the brain is still a vulnerable organ. Repeated blows can cause permanent damage over time, and a single severe blow, even if it doesn't crack the skull or damage the brain, can disrupt the brain's normal operation and knock the victim unconscious [sound of heart beating]. Thinking ceases. Conscious control of muscle is lost. Sensory information is not heeded, and yet the heart continues to beat and the lungs to draw air.
These vital mechanisms are controlled by one of the brain's most durable parts--the brain stem. The brain stem is an automatic control center for many such important involuntary actions of the body. And, it is a pathway for impulses travelling back and forth between the body and the rest of the brain.
Consider the body as a kind of machine with certain basic actions that must be maintained and coordinated no matter what the state of our mind. The brain stem helps serve this purpose. It regulates heartbeat and respiration. It helps to wake up the rest of the brain from sleep by activating the other areas. It regulates blood pressure moment by moment. If it failed to do so, we would faint every time we stood up. It controls certain reflex actions such as blinking and the adjustment of the eyes to varying light. It guides involuntary actions necessary for eating such as the production of saliva and coordination of the muscles used to swallow. We are then free to think about other things, but it will not allow us to neglect the body's basic needs when the time comes. For example, if food goes down the wrong way, the brain stem will force us to cough. If the brain stem is damaged, the repercussions can be severe--paralysis, coma, death.