Spinal interneuron

Spinal interneuron
Spinal interneuron integrates sensory-motor input
Anatomical terminology []

A spinal interneuron is an interneuron found in the spinal cord that relays signals between (afferent) sensory neurons, and (efferent) motor neurons. Different classes of spinal interneurons are involved in the process of sensory-motor integration. Most interneurons are found in the grey column, a region of grey matter in the spinal cord.

The grey column of the spinal cord appears to have groups of small neurons, often referred to as spinal interneurons, that are neither primary sensory cells nor motor neurons. The versatile properties of these spinal interneurons cover a wide range of activities. Their functions include processing sensory input, modulating motor neuron activity, coordinating activity at different spinal levels, and relaying sensory or proprioceptive data to the brain. There has been extensive research on the identification and characterization of the spinal cord interneurons based on factors such as location, size, structure, connectivity, and function. Generally, it is difficult to characterize every aspect of the neuronal anatomy of a vertebrate's spinal cord. This difficulty arises due to the extent of complexity observed in the structure,connectivity, and morphology of neurons. For instance, in the spinal cord of a 19-day embryo rat, at least 17 different subclasses of interneurons with ipsilateral axon projections were found. In addition, 18 types of commissural interneurons have been identified on the basis of morphology and location.