Vertebral column spinal nerves. The spinal nerves provide sympathetic nervous supply to the body, with nerves emerging forming the sympathetic trunk and the splanchnic nerves. The spinal canal follows the different curves of the column; it is large and triangular in those parts of the column which enjoy the greatest freedom of movement, such as the cervical and lumbar regions; and is small and rounded in the thoracic region, where motion is more limited. The spinal cord terminates in the conus medullaris and cauda equina. Spina bifida is a congenital disorder in which there is a defective closure of the vertebral arch.
The Broken Column The Broken Column The Broken Column ("La Columna Rota" in Spanish) is an oil on masonite painting by Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, painted in 1944 shortly after she had had spinal surgery to correct on-going problems which had resulted from a serious traffic accident when the painter was eighteen years old. The original is housed at the Museo Dolores Olmedo in Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico. As with many of her self-portraits, pain and suffering is the focus of the work, though unlike many of her other works, which include parrots, dogs, monkeys and other people, in this painting, Kahlo is