Research Topic · Peer-Reviewed

Spinal Nerves

Spinal nerves are the paired peripheral nerves that arise from the spinal cord and carry signals between the central nervous system and the body. In humans there are thirty-one pairs, grouped into cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal sets, each formed by the union of a dorsal sensory root and a ventral …

Curated from this journal's research 📚 6 peer-reviewed articles cited Cited 16× across the literature 🔖 ISSN 2694-1201

Overview

Spinal nerves are the paired peripheral nerves that arise from the spinal cord and carry signals between the central nervous system and the body. In humans there are thirty-one pairs, grouped into cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal sets, each formed by the union of a dorsal sensory root and a ventral motor root that join to create a mixed nerve transmitting both afferent and efferent fibres. After emerging through the intervertebral foramina, spinal nerves branch into rami that supply defined dermatomes and myotomes, providing cutaneous sensation, controlling skeletal-muscle activity, and contributing autonomic fibres that help regulate visceral functions, including bladder and bowel control. Their segmental organization underlies the clinical mapping of sensory and motor deficits to specific nerve levels. Damage or compression of spinal nerves and their roots produces radicular pain, numbness, weakness, or paralysis, and these structures are central to many spinal and pain-related disorders. Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures often target spinal nerves directly, including selective nerve and medial-branch blocks used to localize pain generators and sacral injections employed in management, while surgical decompression addresses entrapment such as occipital neuralgia. Pathology of adjacent neural structures, including tumours of the central and peripheral nervous system, can also involve spinal nerve function. Understanding spinal-nerve anatomy is therefore fundamental to neurology, pain medicine, and spinal surgery.

Research published in this journal

6 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.

How this research is being cited

The 6 articles above have been cited 16 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Nov 2026.

A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Spinal Nerves, linking to each citing work.

Editorial oversight

Curated from peer-reviewed research published in Journal of Spine and Neuroscience (ISSN 2694-1201).

Journal editorial board
Ian James Martins · Australia Barbara Poletti · Italy Eylem Degirmenci · Turkey

This page summarises published research for orientation; it is not medical or professional advice.