VTCT Level 2 Facial Massage and Skincare Practice Test

The brainstem acts as the main conduit that links the brain with the spinal cord and relays messages between them. It contains the pathways that carry motor commands from the brain to the body and sensory information from the body up to the brain, using ascending and descending tracts. It also houses nuclei for many cranial nerves, which helps relay signals to and from the head and neck. The three parts inside it—midbrain, pons, and medulla oblongata—are all components of this essential bridge, but the overall structure that connects brain and spinal cord and manages the relay of information is the brainstem.