How to Use brain stem in a Sentence

brain stem

noun
  • The brain stem controls the balance, which must be just right.
    — Brooke Jarvis, The New Yorker, 18 Jan. 2021
  • Eaise had a tumor on his brain stem, known as a tectal glioma.
    — Phil Anastasia, Philly.com, 30 Mar. 2018
  • The exit point is down the spinal canal, where the brain stem is, and that can be fatal.
    — Avrahom Gurwitz, Philly.com, 27 Mar. 2018
  • The brash Vesuvian sounds of golden-era rap had us by the brain stem.
    — Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 5 June 2023
  • An X-ray showed that the wire from her spinal fusion had broken and pierced her brain stem.
    — Wendy Grossman Kantor, People.com, 27 Aug. 2025
  • But growing pressure from a tumor on her brain stem was causing her face to go numb.
    — Jeff Truesdell, Peoplemag, 22 Feb. 2023
  • Thomas had a stroke May 24, caused by a tear of the basilar artery in the brain stem.
    — David Woods, Indianapolis Star, 7 June 2020
  • Mathias had an aggressive form of brain cancer called brain stem glioma.
    — Terry Ward, CNN, 24 Dec. 2021
  • Forsythe's stroke was a hemorrhagic stroke in his central brain stem.
    — Brooks Sutherland, The Enquirer, 10 Feb. 2022
  • Mann said a trip to the emergency room finally got to the cause—brain stem cancer.
    — Raja Krishnamoorthi, Newsweek, 13 Mar. 2025
  • Hell, the cover features a man and a woman joined at the brain stem by a pink pulsing tendril.
    — Will Nevin, OregonLive.com, 12 Mar. 2018
  • Amadio opened a part of his skull near the brain stem and successfully removed the cyst in one piece.
    — Scottie Andrew, CNN, 30 Jan. 2020
  • This means an impulse originating from the left side of the brain crosses over to the right side of the brain stem.
    — Bryant Stamford, The Courier-Journal, 2 May 2024
  • Does damage to the brain stem also affect the content of dreams and the actions of dreamers?
    — Diana Kwon, Scientific American, 13 Jan. 2023
  • This system includes the brain stem, a part of the brain that houses our emotions and memories.
    — Grooming Playbook, The Salt Lake Tribune, 22 Sep. 2022
  • Nestled in the back of his head, near the brain stem, was a cancerous tumor the size of a halo orange.
    — Naseem S. Miller, orlandosentinel.com, 30 Sep. 2020
  • The grape-sized, Stage 4 tumor on his brain stem made his movements and memories shaky.
    — Yuki Noguchi, NPR, 13 Aug. 2025
  • That team proposed slicing off the top of Miranda’s skull and then groping down to her brain stem.
    — David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 Mar. 2024
  • The shot hit the man in the back of the head and left bullet fragments lodged in his brain stem, according to the documents.
    — Tony Rizzo, kansascity, 31 May 2018
  • There has been an irreversible cessation of all activity in both the brain and the brain stem.
    — Usa Today, Detroit Free Press, 19 Nov. 2019
  • In effect, a casual tilt of the head can briefly limit blood supply to key parts of the brain stem and cerebellum.
    — Khloe Quill, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2025
  • The team focused on two areas in the brain stem where GLP-1 drugs have a big effect.
    — NPR, 21 Nov. 2025
  • The locus coeruleus and Alzheimer’s disease The locus coeruleus sits in the brain stem, the lowest part of the brain.
    — Elizabeth Riley, The Conversation, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Diaz said Sicknick suffered two strokes at the base of the brain stem caused by a clot in an artery that supplies blood to that area of the body.
    — Peter Hermann, Anchorage Daily News, 19 Apr. 2021
  • These patients have lost the ability to sleep and wake, to form memories, to speak, and so on – even though their brain stem is still working.
    — Ben Thomas, Discover Magazine, 10 May 2016
  • And that consciousness is known to be linked to the activity of structures such as the brain stem and thalamus.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Oct. 2019
  • Her form of spina bifida — lipomyelomeningocele — puts a fatty tumor on the spinal cord, threatening to tug the brain stem out of place.
    — Christopher Borrelli, chicagotribune.com, 24 Feb. 2021
  • That pressure on the brain and brain stem can result in a person losing consciousness and their ability to breathe on their own.
    — Lisa Respers France, CNN, 10 Feb. 2022
  • The lack of this response in some patients with Covid-19 could indicate the brain stem is impaired.
    — Liz Szabo, CNN, 1 June 2020
  • The music is visceral, the high-pitch whir of the lira flutes like a snake worming its way through my earholes and taking hold of my brain stem.
    — National Geographic, 23 July 2019

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'brain stem.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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