Chemoreceptor Trigger Zone - The Vomiting Center of The Brain

The Vomiting Center of The Brain

This integrates the emetic response. This is the area in which "a final decision is made" about whether to evoke an emetic response or not. This decision is based heavily on the information which the CTZ relays to the vomiting center, but also the chemoreceptors in the GI tract, the information sent to the vomiting center by the vestibular system, and higher order centers located in the cortex. The vomiting center is not a discrete or specific place in the brain, but rather an area consisting of many nuclei, axons, and receptors that together cause the physical changes necessary to induce vomiting. Also, emesis can occur by direct neural stimulation of the vomiting center.