File:The chemical neuroanatomy of the brainstem reticular formation (BRF).png

English: The chemical neuroanatomy of the brainstem reticular formation (BRF). This cartoon offers a schematic description of those brainstem areas properly belonging to the reticular formation (RF). In the The diagram shows the constellation of the RF nuclei following a neurotransmitter chemical classification. The isodendritic morphology of the neurons composing the RF nuclei, configures them as crucial stations of both afferent and efferent projections descending and projecting up to the cortex and spinal cord (SC). This network of overlapping connections is involved in a plenty of either extrapyramidal motor and non-motor functions. The major monoamine containing areas, mainly localized in the lateral RF except from C3, are the noradrenergic (A1–A7) adrenergic (C1–C3) dopaminergic (A8–A10) and cholinergic (Ch5–Ch6) nuclei. These are crucial for respiratory activity and for regulating blood pressure and heart rate, micturition, sweat, sleep-wakink cycle as well as descending motor control. Serotonergic nuclei are found in the median RF raphe nuclei, mainly in the B3, B8 and B9 areas. They control vegetative functions such as mood, sleep and sexual behavior, depression and pain. The medial RF, found between the median and the lateral column, is a region lacking monoamine nuclei, but whose giganto-cellular and paramedianpontine nuclei act as a station for fibers connecting with monoamine regions such as A6 (LC) and Ch6. They are involved in voluntary movement regulation, as well as in optical, acoustic and olfactory control due to their connections respectively, to the spinal cord and to the main cranial nerves’ nuclei.