Spinal Cord Spinal Cord Structure REGIONS Cervical Thoracic

Spinal Cord

Spinal Cord Structure REGIONS Cervical Thoracic Lumbar Sacral

Spinal Cord Structure Conus medullaris Cauda equina Filum terminale

Spinal Cord Parts to Discuss 2. Spinal Cord Tissue or “rootlets” Spinal Nerves 1. Meninges mater

Spinal Meninges mater Dura mater

Spinal Meninges (where CSF is)

Spinal Cord in Cross-Section • Note the arrangement of gray and white matter White matter Gray matter

Spinal Cord in Cross-Section GRAY MATTER (dorsal or posterior) • Dorsal roots BACK sensory nerve entry into CNS (afferents) • Dorsal root ganglia soma of sensory cells • Ventral roots motor axons (efferents) FRONT (ventral or anterior)

Spinal Cord in Cross-Section • Gray Matter contains various NUCLEI collections of neuron cell bodies NUCLEI DO NOT MEMORIZE NAMES OF NUCLEI!!!

Spinal Cord in Cross-Section WHITE MATTER Posterior Median Sulcus (dorsal) BACK funiculus Anterior (or White) commissure funiculus FRONT (ventral) Anterior Median Fissure funiculus

Spinal Cord in Cross-Section • White Matter contains TRACTS bundles of axons carrying specific types of information from a common origin to a common destination DO NOT MEMORIZE NAMES OF TRACTS!!! Many TRACTS for sensory info (going to brain) Many TRACTS for motor info (coming from brain)