Anatomy study note · Back

Spinal cord

The elongated part of the central nervous system in the vertebral canal, continuous with the medulla oblongata at the foramen magnum and ending at about the level of L1 in the adult.

Key points

• Foramen magnum → L1 (adult; T12–L3 range); L3 at birth.
• Enlargements: cervical (brachial plexus), lumbar (lumbosacral plexus).
• Conus medullaris → filum terminale → coccyx; cauda equina below the conus.
• Dura and arachnoid end at S2; CSF in the subarachnoid space.
• Arteries: 1 anterior + 2 posterior spinal + radicular arteries.
• Lumbar puncture at L3/4 or L4/5; iliac crests mark L4.
• Alar lamina: sensory; basal lamina: motor.
• Marginal layer → white matter.
• H-shaped grey matter; dorsal horn sensory, ventral horn motor.
• Central canal: ependyma.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Relations · Features · Blood supply · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 2, PDF pp. 164–176, 184–188
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 17, PDF pp. 312, 321–325
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 9, PDF p. 169

More from the back

• Spinal nerves
• Suboccipital muscles
• Thoracic vertebrae
• Thoracolumbar fascia
• Vertebral column
• Atlas (C1)
• Axis (C2)
• Cervical vertebrae
• Deep muscles of the back
• Intervertebral discs
• Ligaments of the vertebral column
• Lumbar vertebrae

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