Intermediate zone of spinal cord

Looks like

The middle part of the grey matter between the front and back horns of the spinal cord.

What it does

Holds connecting nerve cells for reflexes and, in the chest and sacral cord, the cells of the autonomic system.

Keeping it well

Damaged in cord injury or inflammation; its loss adds bladder, bowel and blood-pressure problems.

Its parts

• Lateral intermediate substance

Related conditions

• Amyloidosis (AL and ATTR)
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
• B12 & folate deficiency
• Bone metastases and spinal cord compression
• Botulism
• Chiari malformation and syringomyelia
• Chickenpox (varicella)
• Chronic neuropathic pain
• Chronic pain syndrome
• Fibromyalgia
• Friedreich's ataxia
• Guillain-Barré syndrome
• Lyme disease
• Multiple sclerosis
• Myasthenia gravis
• Neck pain and cervical spondylosis
• Neurogenic bladder
• Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Poliomyelitis
• Rabies
• Restless legs syndrome
• Shingles (herpes zoster)
• Spina bifida & neural tube defects
• Spinal cord injury
• Spinal muscular atrophy
• Tetanus
• Tick-borne encephalitis
• Vitamin B1, C and other deficiencies