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Your spinal cord is a delicate, vine-like structure composed of sensitive tissue and a billion neurons, functioning as a living extension of your brain. It’s one of the most vital components of your body, connecting your brain to the rest of your body and transmitting the crucial nerve signals that allow you to perform everything from picking up a pen to walking. Here are 15 amazing facts about this incredible organ.
The spinal cord is a key element of the central nervous system.
The brain and spinal cord together form the central nervous system. While the brain controls thoughts, senses, and physical movements, the spinal cord acts as the main communication highway between the brain and the body. This explains why spinal cord injuries disrupt the transmission of information between the brain and other parts of the body.
It’s like the internet, but for transmitting nerve signals.
The spinal cord is a bundle of nerves that sends and receives a tremendous volume of signals throughout the body. It begins at the base of your brain, travels down the spine, and ends between the first and second lumbar vertebrae in the lower back.
In addition to acting as a central hub for nerve signals traveling between the brain and the body, the spinal cord also communicates with many pain receptors and other sensory receptors through peripheral nerves. These tiny, fibrous nerves are spread across the body, constantly relaying messages to the brain.
The spinal cord operates independently of the brain.
The spinal cord doesn’t simply follow the brain’s commands—it is also capable of generating and sending signals directly to the muscles when needed.
It governs both voluntary and involuntary muscle movements.
The spinal cord is tasked with transmitting nerve signals that control not just voluntary actions like picking up a spoon or opening a door, but also the involuntary movements of essential functions such as the diaphragm, bowels, and bladder.
Its diameter is under one inch.
You might think that the spinal cord would be quite thick, given its critical role in the body. However, it performs its functions with a diameter ranging from 0.4 to 0.6 inches.
Like the brain, the spinal cord contains both gray and white matter.
The brain and spinal cord are made of similar materials, but they organize them differently. In the brain, gray matter forms the outer layer of its structure, whereas in the spinal cord, it resides in the inner part. Gray matter consists of neurons responsible for motor or sensory functions. White matter, on the other hand, carries the pathways that enable communication between the brain and other parts of the body.
It stops growing by the age of 5.
Your spinal cord experiences significant growth during the first four to five years of life, reaching lengths between 16 to 20 inches. However, once you turn 5, it stops growing. While your body continues to grow, the spinal cord remains the same length as it was when you reached 5.
Your spinal cord can “remember” pain.
When you experience intense pain, such as stubbing your toe or breaking it, the neurons in your spinal cord send pain signals more easily to the injured area for days, making it more sensitive. This happens due to a molecule called PKMzeta, which is believed to play a role in memory. Your spinal cord is particularly sensitive to this molecule, “recording” painful experiences.
The spinal cord runs through 33 vertebrae.
Between the stacked bony vertebrae along your back, there are small openings just large enough for your delicate spinal cord to pass through.
It is divided into 31 distinct segments.
Each segment contains multiple sets of nerves that branch out from the spinal cord: eight cervical, twelve thoracic, five lumbar, five sacral, and one coccygeal nerve.
Injuries to the spinal cord can lead to paralysis.
When the spinal cord is severed at any point due to injury, various types of paralysis may result. Complete paralysis occurs when almost all sensory perception and the ability to control movement are lost below the injury site. Incomplete paralysis refers to cases where some motor or sensory functions remain intact.
Other terms used are quadriplegia or tetraplegia, meaning the arms, hands, trunk, legs, and pelvic organs are all affected by the injury, and paraplegia, meaning the paralysis extends to all or part of the trunk, legs, and pelvic organs. Around 58 percent of spinal cord injuries lead to paraplegia, while approximately 42 percent result in quadriplegia.
A spinal tap might result in a headache.
A spinal tap involves inserting a large needle into the spinal cord to extract fluid for medical testing. A common side effect of this procedure is a severe headache, the cause of which is not fully understood by scientists. One theory suggests that cerebrospinal fluid continues to leak from the tiny hole left by the needle puncture, and the resulting fluid loss may trigger the headache.
Stem cells have the potential to repair spinal cord damage.
Research has demonstrated that stem cell therapies offer healing potential for injured spinal cords, and in some cases, may even reverse paralysis. Stem cells are capable of replacing dead nerve cells, producing new support cells to regenerate myelin, promoting the growth of damaged axons, safeguarding cells at the injury site from further harm, and preventing the injury from spreading by reducing damaging inflammation.
