Question

What is the function of medulla

Answer 1

Your medulla oblongata is located in your hindbrain, at the top of your brainstem. Any of the life-sustaining functions carried out in your body is a product of your medulla. These are function such as swallowing, breathing, heart rate, reflexes, vasomotor (baroreceptors), and the sympathetic and parasympathetic components of your cardiovascular system. Simply put, if you sustain damage to your medulla oblongata, it’s life threatening. The most common life-threatening damage to your medulla occurs when an individual has a stroke which affects the blood supply to your medulla oblongata. When you have a blockage in your blood vessel in this area, damage occurs to your medial lemniscus, pyramidal tract, and hypoglossal nucleus, which causes medial medullary syndrome. Alternatively, when there’s a blockage in your vertebral arteries or your posterior inferior cerebral artery, lateral medullary syndrome can occur. Medullary syndrome, in short, is an alternating hemiplegia where you experience limb weakness on the contralateral side of the infarct (so if it happens on the right side of your brain, then the left side of your body is affected), loss of conscious proprioception, loss of the sense of vibration, loss of discriminative touch, and if the hypoglossal nerve fibers are implicated, ipsilateral muscle weakness will cause your tongue to have a tendency to deviate towards the side of your body in which the infarct occurred. Contralateral means opposite side and ipsilateral means same side, if you didn’t already know. Bottom line, damage to your medulla can be potentially life-threatening.

Answer 2

Medulla oblogeta is responsible for all those essential activities of our body which we don't have to think about it like breathing, our heart beating , digestion etc.