This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Area postrema is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Brain: Area postrema | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Rhomboid fossa. (Area postrema labeled at bottom center.) | ||
| Gray's | subject #187 800 | |
| Acronym(s) | AP | |
| NeuroNames | hier-769 | |
| MeSH | Area+postrema | |
The area postrema is a part of the brain that controls vomiting. It was discovered in 1953 by Utah Pharmacologists Herbert L. Borison and S. C. Wang [1].
Location
It is located in the lateral reticular formation of the medulla oblongata. More specifically, it is located between the funiculus separans (a narrow translucent ridge cossing the ala cinerea) and the clava, as a small tongue-shaped area. Morphine directly stimulates the area postrema that causes vomiting.
Function
The area postrema, one of the circumventricular organs, detects toxins in the blood and acts as a vomit inducing center. It connects to the Nucleus of the Solitary Tract and other autonomic control centres in the brainstem. It is thus excited by visceral afferent impulses (sympathetic and vagal) arising from the gastrointestinal tract and other peripheral trigger areas.
External links
 |
This neuroscience article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
|
This neuroanatomy article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 10 September 2008, at 02:48.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Area postrema".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.