What is the lateral gray horn?

Gray matter forms three horns throughout the area of a spinal cord that include dorsal horns, lateral horns and ventral horns. The lateral horn is composed of types of visceral neurons in the thoracic segments.

Dorsal horns in the spinal cord are made of the sensory neurons, while the ventral horn is composed of the motor neurons. Gray matter in the spinal cord contains “unmyelinated motor neuron fibres,” cell bodies and the interneurons that connect two sides of the spinal cord or that connect the ventral and dorsal ganglia, explains Encyclopedia Britannica. Most of the interneurons consist of short axons, but some extend over several spinal segments.