These bones help protect your spinal cord from injury while allowing you to twist and turn. Vertebrae are the 33 individual, interlocking bones that form your spinal column. Your thoracic spine consists of 12 vertebrae, labeled T1 through T12.

It starts at the base of your neck and ends at the bottom of your ribs. Your thoracic spine is the middle section of your spine.

Thoracic spine (upper and middle back).It begins at the base of your skull and ends in your tailbone, which is part of your pelvis. Your spine (backbone) is the long, flexible column of bones that protects your spinal cord. The ligamentum flavum also surrounds the facet joint capsules.The thoracic spine starts at the base of your neck and ends at the bottom of your ribs. It runs from the base of the skull to the pelvis, in front of and behind the lamina, and protects the spinal cord and nerves. This yellow ligament is the strongest one. This thin ligament attaches to another ligament, called the ligamentum flavum, that runs deep into the spinal column. This ligament attaches the tip of each spinous process to the other. It connects the back (posterior) of the vertebral body to the back of the annulus fibrosis. It connects the front (anterior) of the vertebral body to the front of the annulus fibrosis.Ībout one inch wide, the PLL runs the entire length of the spine from the base of the skull to sacrum. These “holes” provide space for the nerve roots to exit the spinal canal and to further branch out to form the peripheral nervous system.Ībout one inch wide, the ALL runs the entire length of the spine from the base of the skull to the sacrum. The foramen are small openings formed between each vertebra. the mid-region) is the spinal canal that houses the spinal cord and the intervertebral foramen. The nerve roots that exit the spinal cord/spinal canal branch out into the body to form the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS).īetween the front and back portions of the vertebra (i.e. The brain and the spinal cord make up the Central Nervous System (CNS). The nerve roots exit the spinal canal through the intervertebral foramen, small openings between each vertebra. The spinal nerve roots are responsible for stimulating movement and feeling. Thereafter, the cord blends with the conus medullaris that becomes the cauda equina, a group of nerves resembling the tail of a horse. The spinal cord begins immediately below the brain stem and extends to the first lumbar vertebra (L1). The spinal cord is a slender cylindrical structure about the width of the little finger. This area is of critical importance as the nerve roots exit from the spinal cord through this area to the rest of the body. When the vertebrae are stacked on top of each other the pedicle notches form an area called the intervertebral foramen. Intervertebral Foramen: The pedicles have a small notch on their upper surface and a deep notch on their bottom surface.Endplates are complex structures that “blend” into the intervertebral disc and help support the disc. Endplates: The top (superior) and bottom (inferior) of each vertebral body is “coated” with an endplate.The spinous process extends posteriorly from the point where the two laminae join, and acts as a lever to effect motion of the vertebra. The facet joints, combined with the intervertebral discs, allows for motion in the spine. The 4 articular processes link with the articular processes of adjacent vertebrae to form the facet joints. The processes serve as connection points for ligaments and tendons. Processes: There are three types of processes: articular, transverse and spinous.Laminae: Two relatively flat plates of bone that extend from the pedicles on either side and join in the midline.Pedicles: These are two short processes, made of strong cortical bone, that protrude from the back of the vertebral body.The body is covered with strong cortical bone, with cancellous bone within. When looked at from the side, the vertebral body is shaped like an hourglass, being thicker at the ends and thinner in the middle. If looked at from above it generally has a somewhat oval shape. Verterbral Body: The largest part of a vertebra.Vertebrae consist of the following common elements: Bone marrow, which forms red blood cells and some types of white blood cells, is found within the cavities of cancellous bone. Inside each vertebra is cancellous bone, which is weaker than cortical bone and consists of loosely knit structures that look somewhat like a honeycomb. This type of bone is dense, solid and strong. The outer shell of a vertebra is made of cortical bone.

All vertebrae consist of the same basic elements, with the exception of the first two cervical vertebrae.

Spine anatomy