Gray ramus communicans: Difference between revisions

Gray ramus communicans
Scheme showing structure of a typical spinal nerve. 1. Somatic efferent. 2. Somatic afferent. 3,4,5. Sympathetic efferent. 6,7. Sympathetic afferent.
Diagram of the course and branches of a typical intercostal nerve. (Rami communicantes labeled at center.)
Details
Identifiers
Latin	ramus communicans griseus nervi spinalis
TA98	A14.3.01.006
TA2	6149
FMA	5876
Anatomical terminology [edit on Wikidata]

Each spinal nerve receives a branch, gray ramus communicans, from the adjacent ganglion of the sympathetic trunk.

They contain unmyelinated postganglionic sympathetic fibers.

Function

After signals are carried from the spinal cord to the ganglion through the ventral ramus, they are synapsed in the ganglions and then post-ganglionic fibres carry them to the organs that they innervate. But if the response is the whole body response, as in sympathetic fight or flight, the signals are distributed to other spinal nerves by way of gray rami which serve as bridges between the spinal nerves.

Additional Images

• 
  Deep and superficial dissection of the lumbar plexus.
• 
  Thoracic portion of the sympathetic trunk.

See also

• White ramus communicans

External links

• Template:EMedicineDictionary
• Atlas image: n3a6p1 at the University of Michigan Health System - "Autonomic Connections of the Spinal Cord"
• Overview and diagram

This article incorporates text in the public domain from the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918)

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