Like when you hear about somebody being paralyzed from the neck/waist down, what’s behind that? Also, why is it so commonly those two spots?
In: Biology
Nerves are like roadways. Small roads that connect up to big highways. If you sever a highway, you lose all the roads that it connects to. Your nerves bundle together as they grow in number and eventually that bundle links up to the spinal cord. The nerves have a few pathways to follow, but generally they either cross over at the spine or stay on the same side and cross in the base of the brain. This is important for paralysis because if you have a same side tract, then you lose damage to that side. If that bundle crosses at the spine, then you lost damage to the opposite side. The region that becomes paralyzed is not a direct alignment to the region of your spine. For instance, your hand is a good example. Your pinkey and ring finger have sensation provided by a nerve that exits in your neck, not your back. Your entire arm is actually supplied by a nerve bundle that begins almost right under your jaw.
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