A funiculus is a small bundle of

axon An axon (from Greek ἄξων ''áxōn'', axis) or nerve fiber (or nerve fibre: see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences) is a long, slender cellular extensions, projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, ...

s (nerve fibres), enclosed by the

perineurium The perineurium is a protective sheath that surrounds a nerve fascicle. This bundles together axons targeting the same anatomical location. The perineurium is composed from fibroblasts. In the peripheral nervous system, the myelin sheath of each ...

. A small

nerve A nerve is an enclosed, cable-like bundle of nerve fibers (called axons). Nerves have historically been considered the basic units of the peripheral nervous system. A nerve provides a common pathway for the Electrochemistry, electrochemical nerv ...

may consist of a single funiculus, but a larger nerve will have several funiculi collected together into larger bundles known as fascicles. Fascicles are bound together in a common membrane, the

epineurium The epineurium is the outermost layer of dense irregular connective tissue surrounding a peripheral nerve. It usually surrounds multiple nerve fascicles as well as blood vessels which supply the nerve. Smaller branches of these blood vessels penet ...

. Funiculi in the

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the lower brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals. The center of the spinal c ...

are columns of

white matter White matter refers to areas of the central nervous system that are mainly made up of myelinated axons, also called Nerve tract, tracts. Long thought to be passive tissue, white matter affects learning and brain functions, modulating the distr ...

. Examples include: *

Anterior funiculus In the spinal cord, the most lateral of the bundles of the ventral root of spinal nerve, ventral nerve roots is generally taken as a dividing line that separates the antero-lateral region into two parts: an anterior funiculus (or anterior column), ...

of the spinal cord *

Lateral funiculus The most lateral of the bundles of the anterior nerve roots is generally taken as a dividing line that separates the anterolateral system into two parts. These are the anterior funiculus, between the anterior median fissure and the most lateral ...

of the spinal cord * Posterior funiculus of the spinal cord

References

Neuroanatomy {{Neuroanatomy-stub

See also

References