 The 

spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue,

which extends from the medulla oblongata in the brainstem to
the lumbar region of the vertebral column. It encloses the central canal of
the spinal cord, which contains cerebrospinal fluid.

 The spinal cord consists of the gray and white matter. The gray matter
is situated in the interior of the spinal cord and is divided into anterior,
posterior and lateral columns (horns; cornu ventrale, cornu dorsale,
cornu laterale), all three joined by the central gray commissure, where
the central canal is located

 - Along its length, it consists of the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and
coccygeal segments.

 Dorsal (posterior) horns: – the upper vertical bars of the H – receive central
processes of the sensory neurons whose cell bodies lie in the dorsal root
ganglion – contain cell bodies of interneurons • Ventral (anterior) horns: –
the lower vertical bars of the H – house cell bodies of large multipolar
somatomotor neurons whose axons make up the ventral roots of the spinal
nerves • Intermediary column: visceromotor neurons

 Multipolar motor neurons – Located in ventral horns – Large, basophilic

cells – Large, spherical, pale staining nucleus – Prominent nucleolus

 Central canal • remnant of the lumen of the embryonic neural tube • lies in
the center of the crossbar of the H • lined by low columnar- cuboidal cells
(ependymal cells)

 Ependymal cells • Low columnar- cuboidal cells lining the central canal of
the spinal cord and the ventricles of the brain • Apical surface- microvilli, in
some regions ciliated • Tight junctions • Lack an external lamina, contact
with astrocyte processes

 Spinal cord is divided into 31 segments • Each segment of the cord is

connected to a pair of spinal nerves by dorsal and ventral roots

 Thoracic Spinal Cord The LFB stain

Most neurones have a light, large nucleus with a distinct nucleolus. The
cytoplasm of many neurones contains fairly large amounts of rough
endoplasmatic reticulum, which may aggregate within the cytoplasm of the
neurone to form Nissl-bodies. Nissl-bodies are prominent in motor neurones
located in the ventral horn of the grey matter of the spinal cord. The neurites
are difficult to identify in most types of stained sections. Only the most
proximal segments of the primary dendrites are seen clearly. The size of the
perikaryon depends on the level of activity of the neurone and the length of
the processes which the neurone has to support. An usable range for the size
of the perikaryon would be 15 - 50 µm, although much smaller and much
larger neuronal perikarya exist
 Thoracic spinal Cord - H&E, silver stain
These slides show the same major features as the LFB/CV stained sections.
Try to identify neurones (primary dendrites, Nissl-bodies) and glial cell
nuclei in the H&E stained section. Differentiate between grey and white
matter. The LFB stain showed the myelin sheath nicely. In the H&E stained
section we instead can see large, cross-sectioned axons in the white matter.
 The feltwork of nerve fibres, neuronal and glial cell processes is also
called neuropil.
Part of the cytoskeleton of neurones is (like the reticular connective tissue
fibers) argyrophilic, i.e. they "love" silver and can be stained by silver stains.
Aside from the neurones and their processes, fine fibrils are visible in the
neuropil. Many of the fibrils represent axons travelling in the grey and white
matter of the spinal cord

 .

 Dorsal Root Ganglion, cat - H&E and Autonomic Ganglion - H&E

Ganglion cells will typically be several times larger than other cells in the
ganglia. The perikaryon is very large and surrounds a large and light
nucleus. Only the cells immediately surrounding the ganglion cells as one
flattened layer are satellite cells. With a lot of luck you may see the process
of a ganglion cell as it passes out of the capsule of satellite cells. Ganglion
cells are of course in contact with other parts of the nervous system and with
the peripheral tissues which they innervate. Consequently, nerve fibers will
be visible close to or within the ganglion. Lipofuscin, a brownish pigment,
accumulates with age not only in ganglion cells, but also in several other cell
types of the body, e.g., cardiac muscle cells or endocrine cells.
 
Blue Histology - Nervous Tissuewww.lab.anhb.uwa.edu.au

https://www.lab.anhb.uwa.edu.au/mb140/CorePages/Nervous/
Nervous.htm#labganglia