Which structure houses the cell bodies of sensory neurons that convey information from the periphery to the spinal cord?

Which structure houses the cell bodies of sensory neurons that convey information from the periphery to the spinal cord?

• A. Central canal
• B. Ventral horn
• C. Dorsal root ganglion
• D. Lateral funiculus

Answer: (C)

Sensory neuron cell bodies that carry information from the periphery into the spinal cord are located in the dorsal root ganglion. These ganglia sit just outside the spinal cord along the dorsal roots and contain pseudounipolar neurons whose peripheral processes reach the skin, muscles, and other tissues, while the central processes enter the spinal cord to synapse in the dorsal horn. This arrangement keeps the cell bodies in the peripheral ganglia, separate from the central nervous tissue. The other structures don’t house these cell bodies: the central canal is the CSF-filled channel inside the spinal cord; the ventral horn contains motor neuron cell bodies that project to muscles; and the lateral funiculus is a white matter tract that carries ascending and descending fibers, not neuron cell bodies.

Sensory neuron cell bodies that carry information from the periphery into the spinal cord are located in the dorsal root ganglion. These ganglia sit just outside the spinal cord along the dorsal roots and contain pseudounipolar neurons whose peripheral processes reach the skin, muscles, and other tissues, while the central processes enter the spinal cord to synapse in the dorsal horn. This arrangement keeps the cell bodies in the peripheral ganglia, separate from the central nervous tissue.

The other structures don’t house these cell bodies: the central canal is the CSF-filled channel inside the spinal cord; the ventral horn contains motor neuron cell bodies that project to muscles; and the lateral funiculus is a white matter tract that carries ascending and descending fibers, not neuron cell bodies.