Brainstem function

There are things your body does without you ever thinking about them, and a good share of them is handled in the brainstem, the stretch that joins the brain to the spinal cord. Two of its parts, the pons and the medulla oblongata, regulate crucial functions: the cardiovascular system, meaning the heart and the vessels, and the respiratory system, plus the rate at which they work.

The cranial nerves also attach along the brainstem, the ones that run straight to the head and the neck. They carry to the brain whatever is felt up there and carry the movement commands out to that area, and most of the special senses, like sight and hearing, come in that way. The midbrain coordinates what you see, what you hear and what you touch. And spread throughout the brainstem there is diffuse gray matter, the reticular formation, which has to do with sleeping and being awake, with whether the lights in the house are on or off.