Nerves

The spine forms a bony protective wall around the human spinal cord, through which nerve cords run that send electrical impulses to the muscles. Sensory perceptions are also conducted from the periphery via the spinal cord to the brain, where they can be consciously perceived. In order to reach the peripheral areas of the body, for example the arms and legs, nerve cords between the individual vertebral bodies pull nerve cords out of the spinal cord.

Whenever the spinal column is damaged in any way, for example in vertebral fractures, herniated discs and degenerative spinal diseases, the nerves in the spinal column are at risk because of their close proximity. Pain that originates in the back and spreads to the periphery may be due to nerve involvement that requires urgent treatment. The spinal cord itself, which runs inside the spinal column in the spinal canal, consists of nerve tissue.

In cross-section, the spinal cord appears as an approximately round light-colored area (white substance), in the middle of which a butterfly-shaped darker, gray structure appears (gray substance). While the gray substance is formed by the bodies of the nerve cells (perikaryas), the white area around it represents their extensions (axons). The spinal cord contains various pathways with different qualities, which conduct information from the brain to the rest of the body (the periphery) as well as from the periphery back to the brain.

For example, movement commands are transmitted from the brain to the muscles or, conversely, perceptions such as pain are transmitted from the skin to the brain. The spinal cord is thus essential as a mediator between the brain and the rest of the body. Two vertebral bodies lying one below the other form an intervertebral hole (Foramen intervertebrale) on each side, through which the spinal nerves emerge.

These originate in 31 pairs directly from the spinal cord, but belong to the peripheral nervous system. They are all mixed nerves, i.e. they contain sensitive (e.g. sensation of feeling or pain), motor (movement) and vegetative (e.g. sweating) qualities.