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What happens to the notochord during human embryonic development?
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Vintage anatomy charts of the human body showing the skeletal and muscle systems.
During human embryonic development, the notochord serves as a critical, flexible rodlike structure that plays an essential organizational role in the development of the nervous system.1
As the vertebral column forms, the notochord is gradually incorporated into the developing skeletal structure. Specifically, it becomes the centers of the intervertebral discs, known as the nuclei pulposi, which function to cushion the vertebrae.1