Anatom3DMedulla oblongata
Medulla oblongata · Prodloužená mícha
Nervous system
Looks like
The lowest part of the brainstem, about 3 cm long, tapering into the spinal cord at the skull base.
What it does
Controls breathing, heart rate and blood pressure, and swallowing and coughing reflexes.
Keeping it well
Compressed when brain swelling pushes down; opioid and alcohol overdose suppress its breathing centre — slow breathing and unresponsiveness is an emergency.
Its parts
Related conditions
- Acute liver failure
- ADHD
- African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness)
- Alcohol withdrawal and delirium tremens
- Altitude sickness
- Alzheimer's disease
- Amyloidosis (AL and ATTR)
- Autism spectrum disorder
- Bipolar disorder
- Birth asphyxia (hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy)
- Body dysmorphic disorder
- Botulism
- Brain abscess
- Brain aneurysm
- Brain tumour (glioma & meningioma)
- Cerebral palsy
- Chiari malformation and syringomyelia
- Chickenpox (varicella)
- Chronic insomnia
- Chronic neuropathic pain
- Chronic pain syndrome
- Cluster headache
- Concussion (mild TBI)
- Congenital hypothyroidism
- Cryptococcal meningitis
- Delirium
- Dementia with Lewy bodies
- Down syndrome (trisomy 21)
- Drowning
- Eating disorders
- Encephalitis
- Epilepsy
- Essential tremor & dystonia
- Fainting (syncope)
- Febrile seizures
- Fibromyalgia
- Fragile X syndrome
- Frailty & falls in older age
- Functional (somatic) symptom disorder
- Generalised anxiety disorder
- Guillain-Barré syndrome
- Haemorrhagic stroke
- Heat exhaustion & heatstroke
- Hepatic encephalopathy
- Huntington's disease
- Hydrocephalus
- Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar)
- Intellectual disability
- Ischaemic stroke
- Japanese encephalitis
- Lead poisoning
- Long COVID (post-viral syndrome)
- Lyme disease
- Major depressive disorder
- ME/chronic fatigue syndrome
- Measles
- Medication-overuse headache
- Meningitis
- Migraine
- Multiple sclerosis
- Myasthenia gravis
- Narcolepsy
- Neurocysticercosis
- Normal pressure hydrocephalus
- Parkinson's disease
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Phenylketonuria (PKU)
- Poisoning & overdose
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Postnatal depression
- Postpartum psychosis
- Rabies
- Restless legs syndrome
- Roseola (sixth disease)
- Schizophrenia
- Self-harm and suicidal crisis
- Shingles (herpes zoster)
- Subdural haematoma
- Substance use disorder
- Sudden infant death syndrome
- Tension-type headache
- Tetanus
- Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP)
- Tick-borne encephalitis
- Tics and Tourette syndrome
- Toxoplasmosis & CMV
- Transient ischaemic attack
- Traumatic brain injury (moderate to severe)
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Tuberous sclerosis complex
- Vascular dementia
- Vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma)
- Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies