... performed by the lower centres of the brain situated in the medulla oblongata. But the animal growled and barked when the attendant, who fed it daily, approached to give it food, which was a clear indication that the bark and growl had lost both its affective and cognitive significance; it was, indeed, a purely automatic reflex action. It was dependent upon a stimulus arousing an excitation in an instinctive automatic nervous mechanism in the medulla oblongata and spinal cord presiding over synergic ... — The Brain and the Voice in Speech and Song • F. W. Mott
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