Spinal Cord

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue and support cells that extends from the brain. The brain and spinal cord together make up the central nervous system. The spinal cord extends down to the space in between the first and second lumbar vertebrae. It is around 45 cm long (18 inches) in men and around 43 cm (17 inches)long in women. The enclosing bony vertebral column protects the relatively shorter spinal cord. The spinal cord functions primarily in the transmission of neural signals between the brain and the rest of the body but also contains neural circuits that can independently control numerous reflexes and central pattern generators.... Mehr