The medulla is the inferior part of the brain stem. 

The medulla contains the cardiac, respiratory, vomiting and vasomotor centers and deals with autonomic functions such as breathing, heart rate and BP.

 

It contains:

1) nuclei (neurons) of the cranial nerves:

  • IX = salivation
  • X = PS efferent supply of thoracic & abdominal viscera (heart, lung, GI)

2) Reticular formation- a diffuse group of brainstem nuclei that modulate activity of the nervous system by filtering incoming stimuli and ignoring the irrelevant background stimuli.

3) Area postrema– vomiting center. Has no protection from the blood brain barrier.