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The reticular formation also contains two major neural subsystems, the ascending reticular activating system and descending reticulospinal tracts, which mediate distinct cognitive and physiological processes. [3] [4] It has been functionally cleaved both sagittally and coronally .
The reticular activating system begins in the dorsal part of the posterior midbrain and anterior pons, continues into the diencephalon, and then divides into two parts reaching the thalamus and hypothalamus, which then project into the cerebral cortex (Fig. 1).
The reticular activating system controls arousal and awareness of the cerebral cortex. Damage here can result from many potential factors, such as:
The reticular activating system is the part of the brain that controls wakefulness. It’s part of the brain stem, which controls automatic bodily functions like the heart, lungs, digestion, and ...
One such example is the heterogeneous collection of more than two dozen nuclei on each side of the upper brainstem (pons, midbrain and in the posterior hypothalamus), collectively referred to as the reticular activating system (RAS). Their axons project widely throughout the brain.
The swelling may eventually cause the brain to push down on the brain stem, which can damage the reticular activating system (RAS)—a part of the brain that's responsible for arousal and awareness.
For a patient to maintain consciousness, two important neurological components must function impeccably. The first is the cerebral cortex which is the gray matter covering the outer layer of the brain. The other is a structure located in the brainstem, called reticular activating system (RAS or ARAS).
This was observed by two experiments: development of sleepiness after dopamine neuron destruction in substantia nigra in the midbrain, and discovery of the reticular activating system, which are visual cues received through our eyes and to our brain that begin the waking process, that waking consciousness depends sleep.