refers only to the parts of the brain that remain relatively unchanged after development is complete, i.e. at the brain stem especially the midbrain. Other parts, on the other hand, develop further, through folding and thickening, and have different names. Still, it is considered a continuous central region through all levels of the brainstem.

Structures that develop to grow ventral or lateral outside this primitive tube as add-ons (e.g., the crus cerebri