Posterior Roots of Cervical Nerves (Left)

Description

The posterior roots of the cervical nerves originate just lateral to or in the intervertebral foramen, corresponding to the point where the cervical nerve splits into anterior and posterior roots.

Generally, the posterior roots consist of afferent fibers that convey sensory signals (such as touch, temperature and pain) from the body, and visceral sensation from organs, viscera, glands, and blood vessels, to the central nervous system.

Afferent neurons of the posterior roots are primarily pseudounipolar. Their axons carry information from the periphery and terminate in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, passing their cell bodies which lay in the spinal ganglion (or dorsal root ganglion).

At their distal ends, the posterior roots typically join their anterior root counterparts to form a spinal nerve, which consists of both sensory and motor nerve fibers.