The Brain Stem

The base of your brain

The brain stem sits lower in the brain and is often considered the “primitive” part of the brain. This may be an oversimplified way of describing this part of the brain – but it does control many life-sustaining functions so without it we are goners!

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The parts of the brain stem

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The brain stem is often referred to as the “primitive” part of the brain or famously the “reptilian brain”.

This terminology was proposed by neuroscientist MacLean who wrote in his book, on the evolution of the brain, how different parts of the brain could be ascribed an evolutionary function.