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Lesson: Chapter 6 — Human body processes

6.5. Co-ordination and the nervous system 5 of 5

The spinal cord

The spinal cord runs from the medulla down through the backbone.

Figure to be added

Figure — a cross-section of the spinal cord: the butterfly-shaped grey matter in the middle, the white matter around it, and a spinal nerve joining at each side.

White matter — outside

Nerve fibres carrying impulses up to and down from the brain.

Grey matter — inside

Cell bodies of neurons, where impulses are passed on.

In the brain it is the other way round: grey matter outside, white matter inside.

What the spinal cord does

  • Carries impulses between the body and the brain.
  • Controls spinal reflex actions.