Physiology, Spinal Cord

The spinal cord is a vital aspect of the central nervous system housed in the vertebral column of the spinal column. Its purpose is to send motor commands from the brain to the body and sensory information from the body to the brain, as well as to coordinate reflexes. The spinal cord organizes segmentally with thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves emanating from it. A spinal cord injury disrupts this conduit between the body and brain and can cause deficits in sensation, movement, and autonomic regulation, as well as death.