Here in the Dulin lab, we have a plethora of experiments that focus on measuring outcomes after spinal cord injury. One project, which I am honored to be a part of, analyzes neural progenitor cell grafts in the spinal cord after a T12 contusion.
In this project, we transplanted a type of stem cell into the spinal cord, after an injury that causes paraplegia. I will explain more about neural stem cells in another post, but for now let’s focus on the question, “what is the spinal cord and what does it do?”
What is a spinal cord?
As a new undergraduate researcher, my first task was to learn about the anatomy of the spinal cord and how it communicates with the brain and the body. The spinal cord is a long tube, made up of bundles of nerves as well as neurons, which connects to the back of the brain.
This long tube has the job of communicating signals between the brain and the rest of the body. These signals can be compared to electrical currents running through a wire. Except, instead of delivering power to an object, these electrical signals contain coded messages.
You are probably wondering how the spinal cord’s communication equates to the game of telephone – the one where all you need is a good group of friends, some funny phrases, and a good attitude.
The game of telephone
For those who don’t know, telephone is where an originator thinks of a word or phrase, then has to communicate it through a series of people whispering the phrase to one another. When the message reaches the final person, they must say it out loud to see if it is the same message or not. Most of the time, the message is miscommunicated – for example, "My neighbor walked the dog," can turn into "When I was a young warthog."
Communication & Anatomy
For the spinal cord, when healthy, the game of telephone is successful each time. For us, our spinal cord is about 40-50 cm long and between 1.0-1.5 cm in diameter (about the same width as your pinky finger). You are probably saying to yourself, “That’s pretty small!,” and you are correct. Your spinal column is actually much larger than your spinal cord.
A little bit about spinal cord anatomy: The spinal cord extends from a hollow passageway known as the foramen magnum at the base of the skull, where it is continuous with the medulla oblongata (part of the brainstem).
The spinal cord ends at the level of the first or second lumbar vertebrae, which are located right below your final rib. Below this point, it is referred to as the cauda equina, which is Latin for “horse's tail”.
What happens if the spinal cord is not healthy?
When the spinal cord is not healthy due to disease, injury, or old age, there can sometimes be a mistranslation of information. This is reminiscent of the game of telephone, where messages are transferred from person to person incorrectly.
In the spinal cord, this type of “miscommunication” can result from abnormal signaling such as hypersensitivity, hyposensitivity, or even loss of function. In the example of spinal
cord injury, communication can be completely silenced, resulting in paralysis (loss of motor control). Sometimes neural circuits can even cross-fire, resulting in abnormal pain sensation in response to normal touch - talk about a miscommunication!
Is there a fix?
You are probably wondering, “How can we fix it?”. Well, unlike the game of telephone with only one line of communication, there are millions of separate lines of communication in the spinal cord.
Within these separate lines of communication, there are billions of synaptic connections between neurons in the spinal cord. These neural networks are still too complex to understand completely.
In the field of spinal cord research, we are trying to map out these connections and their functions so we can try and “fix” what has happened to the spinal cord after injury.
How do we help in this lab?
Our goal in the Dulin lab is to become a positive driving force in the field of spinal cord research. Our head pioneer, Dr. Dulin has paved an incredible pathway for us to continue the exploration of the mysterious spinal cord and get it back healthy so it can successfully
play its version of telephone.
For more information on the spinal cord and the research we do in the Dulin Lab, check out the rest of our website to Follow The Science!
References:
England, M. A., & Wakeley, J. (2006). Color atlas of the brain and spinal cord: An introduction to normal neuroanatomy. Mosby Elsevier.
Netter, F. H., & Hansen, J. T. (2003). Human atlas of anatomy. Icon Learning Systems.