Adhesion Molecules-28

Advances and Experimental-1

Aging-9

Agricultural Biotechnology-37

Angiogenesis-29

Antisense-4

Apoptosis-49

Atherosclerosis-12

Autoimmunity-69

Bacterial Virulence-18

Bioinformatics-13

BioMaterials-18

Biosurfactants-1

Biotechnology-99

Cancer Genetics-25

Cancer Metastasis-19

Cell Biology-16

Cell Cycle-34

Cell Metabolism-327

Channels and Transporters-79

Chaperones-11

Circadian Rhythms-13

Coagulation-14

Cytokines/Growth Factors-52

Development-223

DNA-56

DNA Surveillance and Repair-42

Drug Design-17

Endocrine-66

Evolution-33

Extracellular Matrix-30

Gastroenterology-52

Gene Expression-178

Gene Therapy-53

Heart-61

Heat Shock Proteins-19

Hematology-11

Immunology-93

Infectious Disease-71

Ischemia-Reperfusion-33

Leptin and Leptin Antagonists-1

Medical-12

MHC-17

Mitochondria-17

Molecular Biology-13

Molecular Complexes and Signaling-1

Nanomedicine-30

Neurodegenerative Disease-72

Neuropharmacology-112

Neuroscience-38

Nucleus-15

Oncogenes-8

Oncology-87

Parasitic Disease-12

Pharmacogenomics-14

Prebiotic Evolution-2

Protein-12

Reproductive Biology-59

RNA-152

Signal Transduction-186

Stem Cells-80

Surgery-37

T-Cell Activation-12

Tissue Engineering-116

Transplant-51

Vaccines-82

Viruses-85

Chapter category: Tissue Engineering

Anatomy and Physiology of the Spinal Cord

Chapter authors:
Antal Nogradi amd Gerta Vrbovi

The spinal cord is part of the central nervous system (CNS), which extends caudally and is protected by the bony structures of the vertebral column. It is covered by the three membranes of the CNS, i.e., the dura mater, arachnoid and the innermost pia mater. In most adult mammals it occupies only the upper two-thirds of the vertebral canal as the growth of the bones composing the vertebral column is proportionally more rapid than that of the spinal cord. According to its rostrocaudal location the spinal cord can be divided into four parts: cervical, thoracic, lumbar and sacral, two of these are marked by an upper (cervical) and a lower (lumbar) enlargement. Alongside the median sagittal plane the anterior and the posterior median fissures divide the cord into two symmetrical portions, which are connected by the transverse anterior and posterior commissures. On either side of the cord the anterior lateral and posterior lateral fissures represent the points where the ventral and dorsal rootlets (later roots) emerge from the cord to form the spinal nerves. Unlike the brain, in the spinal cord the grey matter is surrounded by the white matter at its circumference. The white matter is conventionally divided into the dorsal, dorsolateral, lateral, ventral and ventrolateral funiculi. Each half of the spinal grey matter is crescent-shaped, although the arrangement of the grey matter and its proportion to the white matter vary at different rostrocaudal levels. The grey matter can be divided into the dorsal horn, intermediate grey, ventral horn and a centromedial region surrounding the central canal (central grey matter) The white matter gradually ceases towards the end of the spinal cord and the grey matter blends into a single mass (conus terminalis) where parallel spinal roots form the so-called cauda equina.

» Access chapter for $19

Additional chapters from this book: