She died of sepsis from a ruptured intestine. ( 1 CNN)Actress Patty Duke died Tuesday as a result of sepsis from a ruptured intestine, according to Mitchell K. Stubbs & Associates, the agency that represented her. She was 69.
How Your Brain Works. The basic lower brain consists of the spinal cord, brain stem and diencephalon (the cerebellum and cortex are also present, but will be discussed in later sections). In turn, the brain stem comprises the medulla, pons, midbrain, hypothalamus and thalamus [source: Health Pages].
What is the brain? The brain is the control centre for your body and it sits in your skull at the top of your spinal cord. The brain has three main parts. The cerebellum (say se-re-bell-um). The cerebrum (say se-re-brum), which has two parts, the left and right cerebral hemispheres, (say se-re-brell hem-iss-fears). The brain stem, that controls a lot of the 'automatic' actions of your body such as breathing and heart beat, and links the brain to the spinal cord and the rest of the body.