The spinal cord is the thick, whitish bundle of nerve tissue
that extends from the lowest part of the brain down through the
spinal column. In humans, spinal nerves branch off from the
spinal cord to various parts of the body. There are 31 pairs of
spinal nerves which are grouped according to where they leave
the spinal column. There are eight pairs of neck (cervical)
nerves, 12 pairs of upper back (thoracic) nerves, five pairs of
lower back (lumbar) nerves, five pairs of pelvis (sacral) nerves
and one pair of tail bone (coccygeal) nerves. It is important
for the doctors to detect any abnormality in these nerves'
function when dealing with spine problems. The specialized nerve
tests like EMG, NCV and SSEP are designed to diagnose any
abnormality in the functioning of these nerves. These studies
investigate the functioning of the nervous system, while imaging
studies like the CT scans or MRI scans look at the structure or
anatomy of a particular body part or organ. Rationale The nerves
in our bodies are very s