Internal configuration | Brain-inter-atlas

The spinal cord consists of

The proportion of these two components varies with the region of the spinal cord.

Grey matter

central, more plentiful at the level of the cervical and lumbosacral enlargements
Shaped like a butterfly or a "H" (transverse plane)
At the center: central canal (obliterated remains of the embyronic neural tube lumen)
Three symetrical parts: the horns
- Anterior horn
  - Large at the level of the enlargements
  - Contains the effector neurons, motor and autonomic, origin of the anterior roots of the spinal nerves
  - Includes neurons of the sympathetic (segments T1 to L2-L3) and parasympathetic (segments S2 to S4) nervous system within the lateral horn
  - Anterior view of the spinal cord
  - Axial sections of the spinal cord
- Posterior horn
  - Slender within the cervical and thoracic segments, large in the lumbar and sacral segments
  - Receives and relays sensitive informations
  - Anterior view of the spinal cord
  - Axial sections of the spinal cord
  NB: the demarcation of the horns is simplified for pedagogical purposes
A median part: the grey commissure
- Anterior grey commissure
- Central canal
- Posterior grey commissure
- Axial section through the 3^rd segment of the lumbar spinal cord>

Peripheral, plentiful at the cervical level and increasingly rare until the sacral level
Divided into three pairs of symetrical funiculi
- Anterior funiculus
  - The smaller one
  - Medial limit: anterior median fissure
  - Lateral limit: anterior horn and site of the emergence of the anterior roots of the spinal nerves
  - Anterior white commissure: median
  - Anterior view of the spinal cord
  - Axial sections of the spinal cord
- Lateral funiculus
  - Large
  - Lateral to the anterior and posterior funiculi
  - Extends from the emergence site of the anterior roots of the spinal nerves to the posterolateral sulcus
  - Anterior view of the spinal cord
  - Axial sections of the spinal cord
- Posterior funiculus
  - Between the posterior median and the posterolateral sulci
  - On the medial side of the posterior horn
  - Posterior white commissure: median
  - Anterior view of the spinal cord
  - Axial sections of the spinal cord