BRAIN-STEM

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does brain-stem mean? 

• BRAIN-STEM (noun)
  The noun BRAIN-STEM has 1 sense:

1. the part of the brain continuous with the spinal cord and comprising the medulla oblongata and pons and midbrain and parts of the hypothalamus

  Familiarity information: BRAIN-STEM used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BRAIN-STEM (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The part of the brain continuous with the spinal cord and comprising the medulla oblongata and pons and midbrain and parts of the hypothalamus

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

brain-stem; brain stem; brainstem

Hypernyms ("brain-stem" is a kind of...):

neural structure (a structure that is part of the nervous system)

Meronyms (parts of "brain-stem"):

bulb; medulla; medulla oblongata (lower or hindmost part of the brain; continuous with spinal cord; ('bulb' is an old term for medulla oblongata))

pons; pons Varolii (a band of nerve fibers linking the medulla oblongata and the cerebellum with the midbrain)

reticular formation; RF (a complex neural network in the central core of the brainstem; monitors the state of the body and functions in such processes as arousal and sleep and attention and muscle tone)

Holonyms ("brain-stem" is a part of...):

brain; encephalon (that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord)

 Context examples 

SP is found in neurons of vagal afferent fibers innervating the brain-stem nucleus tractus solitarii and the area postrema, which contains the chemoreceptor trigger zone (CTZ), and may be elevated in response to chemotherapy.

(Casopitant, NCI Thesaurus)