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The ventral nerve cord is a major structure of the invertebrate central nervous system. It is the functional equivalent of the vertebrate spinal cord . [ 2 ] The ventral nerve cord coordinates neural signaling from the brain to the body and vice versa, integrating sensory input and locomotor output. [ 1 ]
The ventral nerve cord (formed by nerve cells and nerve fibers) begins at the sub-pharyngeal ganglia and extends below the alimentary canal to the most posterior body segment. The ventral nerve cord has a swelling, or ganglion, in each segment, i.e. a segmental ganglion, which occurs from the fifth to the last segment of the body.
The rest of the central nervous system, the ventral nerve cord, is generally "ladder-like", consisting of a pair of nerve cords that run through the bottom part of the body and have in each segment paired ganglia linked by a transverse connection.
Earthworms have dual nerve cords running along the length of the body and merging at the tail and the mouth. These nerve cords are connected by transverse nerves like the rungs of a ladder. These transverse nerves help coordinate the two sides of the animal. Two ganglia at the head end function similar to a simple brain.
The nervous system consists of two ventral nerve cords, which are usually fused into a single structure, and three or four pairs of smaller nerves per body segment. Only a few aquatic oligochaetes have eyes, and even then they are only simply ocelli. Nonetheless, their skin has several individual photoreceptors, allowing the worm to sense the ...
The ventral nerve cord extends from the suboesophageal ganglion posteriorly. [4] A layer of connective tissue called the neurolemma covers the brain, ganglia, major peripheral nerves and ventral nerve cords. The head capsule (made up of six fused segments) has six pairs of ganglia.
Each nerve lies within a cord of connective tissue lying beneath the cuticle and between the muscle cells. The ventral nerve is the largest, and has a double structure forward of the excretory pore. The dorsal nerve is responsible for motor control, while the lateral nerves are sensory, and the ventral combines both functions. [44]
Notochord is positioned just ventral to the neural tube and dorsal to the gut, flanked by myotome. (D) Notochord homolog in annelid. Cross-section showing the position of the proposed axochord to the ventral mesentery, blood vessel, and nerve chord. Axochord is found to be dorsal to the nerve chord and ventral to gut of the animal.