Page:Structure and functions of the body; a hand-book of anatomy and physiology for nurses and others desiring a practical knowledge of the subject (IA structurefunctio00fiskrich).pdf/87

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of the white matter is essentially the same as in the brain, but the proportion varies in different parts of the cord, the white predominating in the cervical region and the gray being much better developed in the lumbar region, where the nerve cells for control of the lower extremities occur. The gray is least well developed in the dorsal region. Through the center of the cord runs a small hole or canal filled with cerebro-spinal fluid, the central canal of the cord.

Fig. 29.—Functional areas of the cerebral cortex, left hemisphere. (A. A. Stevens.)

The brain is the seat of intelligence and will, the center of all voluntary action. Molecular change in some part of the cerebral substance is the indispensable accompaniment of every phenomenon of consciousness. Indeed, the brain is never in a state of complete repose, there being dreams even during sleep. The brain is not sensitive to injury in the sense of pain. It can be lacerated without much pain.

Various centers exist in the brain, of which the most important perhaps is the motor center. The visual center is in the occipital lobe, the auditory center in the