What is Spinal cord?
Posted on:1/3/2006
| The spinal cord is a part of the vertebrate nervous system that is enclosed in and protected by the vertebral column (it passes through the spinal canal). It consists of nerve cells. |
The cord conveys the 31 spinal nerve pairs of the peripheral nervous system, as well as central nervous system pathways that innervate skeletal muscles.
The vertebral column consists of vertebrae described as belonging to 5 groups (called segments). These segments are (in order from top to bottom): the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae, and the sacrum and coccyx.
Cross-section through cervical spinal cord.
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