Similar cross-sectional structures at all spinal cord levels (Figure 3.1).
It carries sensory information (sensations) from the body and some from the head to the central nervous system (CNS) via afferent fibers, and it performs the initial processing of this information.
Motor neurons in the ventral horn project their axons into the periphery to innervate skeletal and smooth muscles that mediate voluntary and involuntary reflexes.
It contains neurons whose descending axons mediate autonomic control for most of the visceral functions.
It is of great clinical importance because it is a major site of traumatic injury and the locus for many disease processes.
Although the spinal cord constitutes only about 2% of the central nervous system (CNS), its functions are vital. Knowledge of spinal cord functional anatomy makes it possible to diagnose the nature and location of cord damage and many cord diseases.