Question
0 Question 9 Which about the spinal cord is correct, or is more correct if more than one are true? a. The spinal cord contains the cell bodies of motor neurons. b. The spinal cord contains the motor neurons. square
Answer
4.3
(199 Votes)
Olivia
Master · Tutor for 5 years
Answer
The most correct answer is B.
Explanation
## Step 1The spinal cord is a part of the central nervous system, and it consists of both axons and cell bodies of neurons. Axons are the long threadlike part of a nerve cell where impulses are conducted from the cell body to other cells while neurons are nerve cells. Motor neurons transmit nerve impulses that cause muscles or glands to respond.## Step 2Option A suggests that cell bodies of the motor neurons are found in the spinal cord. This is true, Anterior or ventral horns of the spinal cord contain motor neurons.## Step 3Option B stands that the spinal cord contains motor neurons. This is also true because neuron cell bodies sit in the gray substance of the spinal cord. However, this is an ambiguous option because it could refer to containing only the motor neuron bodies, which would not be correct as the spinal cord contains whole neurons, including their axons.## Step 4Option C mentions the spinal cord contains axons of motor neurons. Many spinal cord axons, having originated in neuronal cell bodies, make extended journeys to peripheral tissue targets, and could therefore be axons of motor neurons.## Step 5While some spinal cord locations contain both axons and motor neuron cell bodies, the axon zone dwarfs the motor neuron bodies' spatial domain. Although (b) doesn't differentiate between the neurons and neuron bodies, the phrase “contains motor neurons” sounds standard because it doesn't designate whether it refers to the neuron's body or axons or both. Since motor neurons comprise the cell body and axons projecting from it, this would be most precise as it includes all the anatomy of these specialized cells.