Spinal cord - gray commissure (10x objective lens)

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The deep indentation extending from the middle of the bottom edge of the image towards the center is the ventral fissure, which divides the ventral portion of the spinal cord into to two halves. On either side of the fissure are regions of white matter. The rest of the image is composed of gray matter. Directly above the fissure is an open space, the central canal, bounded by an single layer of columnar ependymal cells. This canal is filled with cerebrospinal fluid in the living cord. The region of gray matter above and below the central canal, called the gray commissure, connects the left and right halves of the gray matter of the spinal cord.

 

Stain = silver

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