QUOTE(lucid_dream @ Sep 17, 2006, 07:04 PM)

it seems we do need the medulla. If you take that out, the person will be in a coma. The problem with your suggestion is that many brainstem regions, such as the medulla, are interpreted as activating cortex and thalamus in a way that cannot be replicated through other means. So the question of what precisely is required for consciousness is complicated by the fact that we do not know at what point in the causal chain or process that consciousness is associated with or produced.
What about certain basal ganglia? Don't those get nuked in parkinson's people? They are still sentient. Any neuro guys here?