Which structure could be found in the ventral horn of the spinal cord?

Which structure could be found in the ventral horn of the spinal cord?

• A. Axons
• B. Motor neurons to skeletal muscle
• C. Sensory neurons
• D. Unipolar neurons

Answer: (B)

In the ventral horn you find the cell bodies of somatic motor neurons—the lower motor neurons that innervate skeletal muscles. Their axons travel out through the ventral roots to reach and activate muscles, producing voluntary movement. That’s why motor neurons to skeletal muscle are the structure you’d find there. Sensory neurons have their cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglia and connect primarily through the dorsal horn, while unipolar sensory neurons are characteristic of those ganglia, not the ventral horn. Axons mainly reside in the white matter tracts rather than in this gray-matter region.

In the ventral horn you find the cell bodies of somatic motor neurons—the lower motor neurons that innervate skeletal muscles. Their axons travel out through the ventral roots to reach and activate muscles, producing voluntary movement. That’s why motor neurons to skeletal muscle are the structure you’d find there. Sensory neurons have their cell bodies in the dorsal root ganglia and connect primarily through the dorsal horn, while unipolar sensory neurons are characteristic of those ganglia, not the ventral horn. Axons mainly reside in the white matter tracts rather than in this gray-matter region.