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Spinal Cord Research Paper

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The spinal cord is the most important structure between the body and the brain. The spinal cord is the pathway for messages sent by the brain to the body and from the body to the brain. We depend of the spinal column to protect our spinal cord, because injury of the spinal cord can lead to paralysis. The spinal cord extends from the foramen magnum of the skull to the lumbar vertebra of the spine, and is enclosed and protected in the vertebral column. The spinal cord is “about 45 cm in length,” (Chapter 41), but this depends on the sex of the person, because males tend to have a longer spinal cord than females. The spinal cord provides a two-way conduction pathway to and from the brain. It is protected by bone and meninges. Meninges include dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia matter. The space between the dura mater and bone of the vertebrae is the epidural …show more content…
The grey matter has the shape of the letter H or like a butterfly. “The grey matter is also arranged according to its function. If you were to split the grey matter into two halves: each half has a dorsal horn, ventral horn, and a lateral horn. The dorsal and ventral horns supply skeletal muscle, while the lateral horn supplies cardiac and smooth muscle” (Spinal Cord Team). Grey matter has a gray commissure that connects the left and right halves of the central canal.
Surrounding the grey matter is white matter. “The white matter is made up of nerve fibers, called axons, which run up and down the length of the cord. Each group of axons carries a specific type of information it needs to communicate. Ascending tracts of axons communicate with the brain, while the descending carry signals from the brain to various muscles and glands throughout the body” (Spinal Cord Team). You also have transverse fibers. These fibers cross from one side of the spinal cord to the other

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