Spinal Cord and Spinal Nerves Flashcards
3 Meninges
Protect the Spinal Cord which is fluid filled
Order of Meninges + Surroundings
1. Epidural Space
2. Dura Mater
3. Arachnoid Mater
4. Subarachnoid Space
5. Pia mater
Dura Mater (Meninge)
Outermost and toughest layer
Surrounded by epidural space
Arachnoid Mater
Interior to the dura mater, Thin, Spider web like extension to the pia mater
Subarachnoid Space
Between the pia mater and the arachnoid mater
Filled with CSF
Provides protective cushion around the spinal cord and brain
Pia Mater (Meninge)
Tightly adheres to the spinal cord and it is delicate
* Continues past end of Spinal cord and becomes the Filum Terminale
Central Canal
- Narrow passageway in the spinal cord that holds the CSF
- Runs through the center of the whole spinal cord and connects to the brain’s ventricles
Termination of the Medulla Oblongata of the Brain
Where the spinal cord begins
Spinal Cord Length
Spinal cord passes through successive vertebral foramina to L1/L2
Conus Medullaris
Cone-shaped termination of the spinal cord found out L1/L2
Filum terminale
The band the pia mater becomes past the end of the spinal cord
Tethers spinal cord to sacrum and coccyx
Denticulate Ligaments
20 paired lateral extensions along the length of the spinal cord formed by the pia mater
- Provide stability
Cervical and Lumbar Enlargements*
Larger than the intervening regions due to the large number of neurons dealing with the innervation of the limbs
Where do the spinal nerve roots emerge from? PNS or CNS?
Emerge from the left and right sides of the spinal cords
- Part of the PNS
Spinal Nerves (31 pairs)
- Cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, coccygeal spinal nerves that serve these regions of the body
Cauda Equina
Bundle of spinal nerve roots as the spinal nerves passes through the vertebral canal to get to diff body parts
Anterior Median Fissure
A large cleft on the ventral side of the spinal cord
- Cuts into white matter along the spinal cord
White Matter
- Myelinated axons that give it its color
Dorsal, Lateral, Ventral Columns
Columns that organize the bundles of axons (tracts) running up and down the spinal cord
Corticospinal Tracts
- Largest Descending Tracts
- Carries info from the cerebral cortex to the motor neurons from the spinal cord
- Ventral column
Spinothalamic Tract
- Ascending Tract
- Neurons carry pain and temperature signals from the spinal cord upward to the thalamus of the brain