What is Spinal cord?
[[File:Medulla spinalis - Section - English.svg|thumb|200px|right|Cross-section through cervical spinal cord.]] [[File:Medulla spinalis - tracts - English.svg|thumb|200px|right|Spinal Cord Tracts]] The '''spinal cord''' is a bundle of [[nerve]]s that go to and from the [[brain]]. It is enclosed in and protected by the bony [[vertebral column]]. The [[main]] function of the spinal cord is [[wikt:transmission|transmission]] of neural inputs between the [[Peripheral nervous system|periphery]] and the [[brain]]. == Spinal cord segments == Humans have 31 left-right pairs of spinal nerves, each roughly corresponding to a segment of the vertebral column. The spinal nerve emerges from the spinal column through an opening ''between'' adjacent vertebrae. Outside the vertebral column, the nerve divides into branches. The nerves for incoming sensory information are bundled separately from nerves for outgoing motor instructions for muscles. The system serves the [[autonomic nervous system]] as well as the motor activities which we control consciously. == Additional images == <gallery> Image:Gray663.png|Diagrams of the spinal cord. Image:Gray664.png|Cross-section through the spinal cord at the mid-thoracic level. </gallery> == Other websites == {{commonscat|Spinal cord}} * [http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Labs/Anatomy_&_Physiology/A&P202/CNS_Histology/Spinal_Cord/Spinal_Cord_Histology.htm Spinal Cord Histology] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060910185213/http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Labs/Anatomy_%26_Physiology/A%26P202/CNS_Histology/Spinal_Cord/Spinal_Cord_Histology.htm |date=2006-09-10 }} - A multitude of great Images from the University of Cincinnati * [http://www.rahulgladwin.com/blog/2006/07/spinal-cord-notes.html Spinal Cord Medical Notes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080527064520/http://www.rahulgladwin.com/blog/2006/07/spinal-cord-notes.html |date=2008-05-27 }} - Online medical notes on the Spinal Cord * [http://www.emedicine.com/neuro/topic657.htm eMedicine: Spinal