RT Book, Section A1 Berkowitz, Aaron L. SR Print(0) ID 1195941503 T1 The Brainstem & Cranial Nerves T2 Clinical Neurology & Neuroanatomy: A Localization-Based Approach, 2e YR 2022 FD 2022 PB McGraw Hill PP New York, NY SN 9781260453362 LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1195941503 RD 2024/03/19 AB The three levels of the brainstem from superior to inferior are the midbrain, pons, and medulla. The midbrain is just inferior to the bilateral thalami, and the medulla transitions inferiorly into the cervical spinal cord. Most simply, the brainstem can be thought of as a “spinal cord for the head and neck”: Just as the spinal cord has sensory information coming in and motor information going out for the extremities and torso, the brainstem has sensory information coming in and motor information going out for the head and neck. In addition to somatic sensory information, however, the brainstem also receives vestibular, auditory, taste, and visceral sensory information. Motor functions of the brainstem include control of ocular, pupillary, facial, laryngeal, pharyngeal, and visceral musculature (Figs. 9–1 and 9–2).