Do you know what part of the brain controls the involuntary muscles that make us breath- like in our sleep and stuff?

Question: Do you know what part of the brain controls the involuntary muscles that make us breath- like in our sleep and stuff? Also is that the same muscle that forces us to throw up when we don't want to. Why don't we have any say over what these particular muscles do?
- Keywords:
  brain,
  breathing,
  involuntary muscle,
  neuroscience
Asked by piwikiwi3 to Jess on 21 Jun 2013.
- Jess Bean answered on 21 Jun 2013:
  
  Thats a good question! The part of the brain controls your breathing when you are awake and asleep (as well as your heart beating, coughing and sneezing) is called the medulla oblongata. It is the bit of the brain that sits at the top of your neck. You’re right! It is also the bit of the brain that makes you throw up.
  Because things like that are really important to live, your brain doesn’t trust you to make sure you breathe, etc. So it does all of this stuff automatically! If you think about it if we did have a say, if you were a baby you would never breathe as babies don’t know that it’s important.

Question: Do you know what part of the brain controls the involuntary muscles that make us breath- like in our sleep and stuff? Also is that the same muscle that forces us to throw up when we don't want to. Why don't we have any say over what these particular muscles do?