See Also: reticular activating system(medicine)
Herbal medicine (botanical medicine, herbology, phytomedicine)(health)
Reticular(medicine)
reticular(dictionary)
reticular tissue(medicine)
reticular fibre(medicine)
reticular substance(medicine)
reticular cell(medicine)
reticular formation(medicine)
reticular membrane(medicine)

reticular activating system (medicine)


reticular activating system
<physiology> A physiological term denoting that part of the brainstem reticular formation that plays a central role in the organism's bodily and behavorial alertness.

It extends as a diffusely organised neural apparatus through the central region of the brainstem into the subthalamus and the intralaminar nuclei of the thalamus; by its ascending connections it affects the function of the cerebral cortex in the sense of behavioural responsiveness; its descending (reticulospinal) connections transmit its activating influence upon bodily posture and reflex mechanisms (e.g., muscle tonus), in part by way of the gamma motor neurons.

See: reticular formation.

Synonym: non-specific system.