a highway for nerve impulses moving between the brain and the spinal cord and
where nerve tracts cross
controls the autonomic nervous system, cardiovascular system, and digestive
system, and regulates water balance, temperature, appetite, sleep, sexual desire,
and emotions
the center of thought, Judgment, memory, language, and problem solving
coordinates voluntary body movements and maintains equilibrium and balance
provide a protective covering to the structures of the central nervous system to
cushion the brain and spinal cord