Describe the general arrangement of gray and white matter in the spinal cord, and then describe the contents of dorsal, lateral, and ventral horns in the spinal cord. Include in your answer the following terms: columns, tracts, cell bodies, axons, interneurons, somatic motor neurons, visceral motor neurons, and afferent neurons

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The spinal cord consists of gray matter regions called horns, which contain cell bodies of neurons, surrounded by an outer region of white matter consisting of columns, which contains tracts (bundles of axons). The dorsal horns contain cell bodies of interneurons on which afferent neurons terminate. Lateral horns contain cell bodies of visceral efferent neurons that stimulate cardiac and smooth muscle and exocrine glands. Ventral horns contain cell bodies of somatic efferent neurons that stimulate skeletal muscles.