This view shows how the spinal nerves attach to the spinal cord, and how the spinal meninges are organized. As the nerve passes into the vertebral notch (not shown) it splits into two roots. The dorsal root carries sensory axons whose cell bodies lie in the dorsal root ganglia. The ventral root carries motor axons arising from the gray matter of the ventral spinal cord. The butterfly-shaped core of the spinal cord is gray matter consisting of neuronal cell bodies. The gray matter is divided into dorsal, lateral, and ventral horns. The organization of the gray and white matter in the spinal cord differs from that in the forebrain. In the forebrain, the gray matter surrounds the white matter; in the spinal cord it is the other way around. The thick shell of white matter, containing the long axons that run up and down the cord, is divided into three columns: the dorsal columns, the lateral columns, and the ventral columns.

1. Spinal dura mater

2. Spinal arachnoid

3. Subarachnoid space

4. Spinal pia mater

5. Ventral column

6. Ventral horn

7. Lateral column

8. Dorsal horn

9. Dorsal columns

10. Spinal canal

11. Lateral horn

12. Dorsal root filaments

13. Dorsal root

14. Dorsal root ganglion

15. Spinal nerve

16. Ventral root

17. Ventral root filaments

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Revised: May 17, 2008 .