Lateral grey column

Lateral grey column (Lateral horn)
A spinal nerve with its anterior and posterior roots (lateral column labeled at top)
Cross-Section of the Spinal Cord
Details
Identifiers
Latin	Cornu laterale medullae spinalis
Dorlands /Elsevier	c_55/12259818
TA	A14.1.02.132
FMA	256536
Anatomical terminology []

The lateral grey column (lateral column, lateral cornu, lateral horn of spinal cord, intermediolateral column) is one of the three grey columns of the spinal cord (which give the shape of a butterfly); the others being the anterior and posterior grey columns. The lateral grey column is primarily involved with activity in the sympathetic division of the autonomic motor system. It projects to the side as a triangular field in the thoracic and upper lumbar regions (specifically T1-L2) of the postero-lateral part of the anterior grey column.

The nervous system is the system of neurons, or nerve cells, that relay electrical signals through the brain and body. A nerve cell receives signals from other nerve cells through tree-branch-like extensions called dendrites and passes signals on through a long extension called an axon (or nerve fiber). Synapses are places where one cell's axon passes information to another cell's dendrite by sending chemicals called neurotransmitters across a small gap called a synaptic cleft. Synapses occur in various locations, including ganglia (singular: ganglion), which are masses of nerve cell bodies. Preganglionic nerve cells in the sympathetic nervous system (all of which come from the lateral grey column), use the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, while postganglionic sympathetic nerve cells use norepinephrine.Grey matter in the brain and spinal cord is any accumulation of cell bodies and neuropil (neuropil is tissue rich in nerve cell bodies and dendrites). White matter consists of axon tracts (groups of axons) and commissures (axon tracts that cross the brain's midline).