Did you know that your spine contains white and gray matter

Brain science:

We have not spent a lot of time in the blog talking about brain cells and tissue and pathways. Well there is a big pathway that leads directly to the brain. Together with the brain It's called the central nervous system (CNS). The central nervous system extends down the center of the spinal column. When we have problems with vertebrae in the spine our brain immediately knows it. That is because running down the spine is the spinal cord. The spinal cord consists, in the main, of gray and white matter just as the brian. The brain is the center of our thoughts, the interpreter of our external environment, and the origin of control over body movement. Like a central computer, it interprets information from our eyes (sight), ears (sound), nose (smell), tongue (taste), and skin (touch), as well as from internal organs such as the stomach. The spinal cord is the highway for communication between the body and the brain. When the spinal cord is injured, the exchange of information between the brain and other parts of the body is disrupted.The central nervous system is better protected than any other system or organ in the body. Its main line of defense is the bones of the skull and spinal column, which create a hard physical barrier to injury. A fluid-filled space below the bones, called the syrnix, provides shock absorbance.Unfortunately, this protection can be a double-edged sword. When an injury to the central nervous system occurs, the soft tissue of the brain and spinal cord swells, causing pressure because of the confined space.Many organs and tissues in the body can recover after injury without intervention. Unfortunately, some cells of the central nervous system are so specialized that they cannot divide and create new cells. As a result, recovery from a brain or spinal cord injury is much more difficult.

The spinal column is interesting in the fact that it contains gray and white matter just as the brain. The above cross section shows the position of both. You might note the spinal cord has the white matter on the outside and the gray matter on the inside. As you may recall this is the opposite of the brain where the gray matter is principally in the cortex area and white matter more in the center. White matter in the spinal cord constitutes the various sensory and motor pathways to and from the brian. It is the connecting rod to the brain. Gray matter processes signals from the white matter to form reflex reactions to what is happening within the central nervous system. Gray matter, in effect, short circuits the brian.

Brain Facts:

• The complexity of the central nervous system is amazing: there are approximately 100 billion neurons in the brain and spinal cord combined. As many as 10,000 different subtypes of neurons have been identified, each specialized to send and receive certain types of information. Each neuron is made up of a cell body, which houses the nucleus. Axons and dendrites form extensions from the cell body.

• Over one million axons travel through the spinal cord, including the longest axons in the central nervous system.

• The spinal cord is divided into five sections: the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal regions.When we reference to these areas we are talking location but not just about cartilage and bone but also the nerve system.

• Axon fibers insulated by myelin(white matter) can carry electrical messages (also called action potentials) at a speed of 100 meters per second, while fibers without myelin(gray matter) can only carry messages at a speed of one meter per second. Does everyone know what myelin is and what it is for?

So What:

The purpose of this blog is to point out the direct connection of the spine to the brain. First,The spinal cord in many ways acts as both a carrier of signals to and from brian but also in some ways acts as a mini brain in itself. Second, as in the brain, the spinal cord is an area that is difficult to repair. There are so many complex arrangements of pathways in both, that some cells can not be recreated. which brings up the question again...How did all of this happen? Who engineered this! The complexity bungles the mind. Every year we are learning about this complexity. With each passing year we are discovering. We don't know everything about the brain and we don't know everything about the spine. But we are discovering.

Oh, we also have discovered white matter is "faster than greased lightning!" Do you think myelin greases the cell?