- Deepest layer of the leptomeninx
- Innermost layer of meninges
- Thin and highly vascularized membrane
- Cranial pia mater:
Adheres to the surface of the central nervous system, closely following its contours
- Spinal pia mater:
Adheres to the surface of the central nervous system, closely following its contours, right up the spinal nerve roots
Cranial pia mater
- Firmly adheres to the cranial contents
- Follows nervous tissue surfaces right down into the sulci
Spinal pia mater
- Surrounds the spinal cord and accompanies entering and exiting nerve roots up to the intervertebral foramen
- Denticulate ligament: tooth-like discontinuous prolongation of the pia mater, between the lateral surfaces of the spinal cord and dura mater, between two adjacent intervertebral foramina
- Filum terminale: prolongation of the pia mater from the conus medullaris to the coccyx
