SVHS ADVANCED BIOLOGY
NAME: ____________________
PERIOD:
1 2 3 4 5 6
D.R. # 10.2 – CNS – SPINAL CORD STRUCTURE & FUNCTION
After reading page 272-274 titled “Gross Anatomy of the Spinal Cord”;
1. How far down the vertebral column does the spinal cord extend? ___________________.
2. Why is it said that the end of the spinal cord is the cauda equina (horse’s tail)?
3. Label:
The unmyelinated gray matter.
The myelinated white matter.
The anterior median fissure.
The posterior median sulcus.
Ventral horn
Dorsal horn
Motor neuron cell body
Sensory neuron cell body
4. Name the type of neuron in the ventral and dorsal gray horns and the roles they play.
Ventral gray horn:
Dorsal gray horn:
5. What is the role of the white matter in the spinal cord and why would you expect this area
to be white matter?
6. Name and contrast the two types of tracts found in the white matter of the spinal cord.
After reading page 276 “SPINAL CORD FUNCTIONS”
7. Describe the two main functions of the spinal cord.
a.
b.
8. List and describe the role of the 5 components of a reflex arc involving the spinal cord.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
9. Label each part of the reflex arc on the diagram below.
10. What might the absence
of a patellar knee reflex
might indicate?