Biology 2121 – Pre-Lecture Questions – Spinal Cord and Spinal Nerves – Chapters 12-13
I. Spinal Cord – General
1. The spinal cord is ______long and ______thick.
2. The dura mater of the spinal cord is ______layer thick and the ______space is between the dura mater and the bone of the vertebrae.
3. The epidural space is filled with ______.
4. Between the dura mater and the arachnoid mater is the ______space.
5. Between the arachnoid mater and the pia mater is the ______.
6. Where would a doctor perform a lumbar puncture or tap? ______
7. The spinal cord terminates at the ______.
8. The fibrous extensions from the conus are called ______they extend to the ______of the pelvis.
9. The spinal cord is secured to the dura mater via the ______ligaments.
10. Humans have ______pairs of spinal nerves.
11. Where do enlargements occur in the spinal cord? ______What causes these enlargements?
12. The ______are nerve roots at the inferior end of the vertebral canal.
13. The outer part of the spinal cord is composed of ______matter and the inner horns are composed of ______matter.
14. A cross section of a spinal cord shows a tiny opening called the ______. It allows for ______to flow through the spinal cord.
II. Gray Matter – Spinal Cord
1. The gray ______attaches the left and right horns of gray.
2. The dorsal horns are also called the ______horns of gray and the ventral horns are also called the ______horns of gray.
3. The ______horns are found in the middle of the horns of gray.
4. All neurons in the spinal cord gray matter are composed of ______(type of neuron).
5. The dorsal horns are composed of only ______and the ventral horns contain some of these neurons but contain cell bodies of ______- neurons.
6. The sensory neurons enter the ______horns of gray and the motor neurons exit the ______horns of gray.
7. Both the ______and ______sensory neurons enter the dorsal horns.
8. Both the ______and ______motor neurons exit the ventral horns.
9. The ______ganglion is associated with the dorsal horn. What is contained within the ganglion?
10. The ______ventral root and the dorsal or sensory root combine to produce a short ______nerve.
II. White Matter of the Spinal Cord.
1. The three types of fibers that compose the white matter in the spinal cord are the ______, ______and ______fibers.
2. White matter on each side of the column is divided into three white columns or ______.
3. All of these spinal tracts are part of a ______pathway that connect the brain to the body periphery.
4. The ascending pathways are related to ______neurons that run from the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex.
5. The ______ascending pathway is the oldest.
6. The lateral, and anterior ______pathways are examples of the nonspecific pathways.
7. What are the function(s) of the spinothalamic nonspecific ascending pathways?
8. The specific sensory pathways are referred to as the ______and ______tracts. Summarize the functions of these pathways.
9. The spinocerebellar tracts transmit information concerning muscle or tendon stretch to the ______.
10. The specific and nonspecific ascending tracts all ______- over to the other side of the body.
11. The ______tracts do not cross over.
12. The descending tracts consist of ______neurons. (motor or sensory)
13. The Direct or Pyramidal descending tracts are composed of ______neurons.
14. The corticospinal tracts contain ______neurons. These large corticospinal tracts crossover where?
15. Why are they called the ‘direct pathway’?
16. Why are some of the descending pathways called indirect pathways?
17. What is the difference between flaccid and spastic paralysis?
III. Spinal Nerves and Plexuses
1. All spinal nerves are ______nerves. Do they contain only sensory, motor or mixed?
2. There are ______pairs of cervical spinal nerves, ______pairs of thoracic nerves, ______pairs of lumbar nerves and ______pairs of sacral nerves and ______pair of coccygeal nerves.
3. Ventral horn motor neurons innervate ______muscles.
4. Dorsal horn ______neurons bring in information from the sensory receptors throughout the body.
5. A spinal nerve is only ______cm in length.
6. The spinal nerves branch into a small ______ramus, larger ______and a tiny ______branch.
7. Which area of the spinal cord do not have nerve plexuses? ______
8. Only ______rami form nerve plexuses.
9. The ventral rami of T1-T12 become the ______nerve.
10. Cutaneous branches serve the ______.
11. What is a plexus?
12. Answer the following questions concerning nerves of various plexuses.
(a). The ______nerve serves the diaphragm. It is a part of the ______plexus.
(b). The nerves that make up the cervical plexus are C1 - ______.
(c). The median nerve is a part of the ______plexus, and its functions are ______
(d). The ulnar and radial nerves are part of the ______plexus.
(e). The axillary nerve is a part of the ______plexus and serves the following muscles: ______
(f). The musculotaneous, thoracic, scapular and subscapular nerves are the part of the ______plexus.
(g). The femoral and obturator nerves are part of the ______plexus.
(h). The lumbar plexus contains nerves ______to ______.
(i). The femoral nerve serves the ______and the obturator nerve serves the ______.
(j). The sacral plexus contains nerves ______to ______.
(k). The largest nerve in the body is the ______nerve. It is composed of two smaller nerves, the ______and the ______.
13. What are dermatomes?
14. Dermatomes are found in all spinal nerves except ______.