ventral horn
anatomy
Also known as: motor horn
Quick Summary
Human spinal cord
Lower cervical segment of the human spinal cord. In this photograph of a cross section, the white matter is shown stained dark.
The ventral horn is a region within the gray matter of the spinal cord. It is primarily composed of motor neurons, which are responsible for sending signals from the central nervous system to striated muscles, enabling movement. These motor neurons include alpha motor neurons that directly innervate muscles and gamma motor neurons that control muscle spindles. The axons of these motor neurons exit the spinal cord through the ventral roots, forming part of the spinal nerves that connect to the body's muscles.1
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