Vertebral column and sacral curvatures) form during fetal development. The secondary curves develop after birth. The cervical curvature forms as a result of lifting the head and the lumbar curvature forms as a result of walking. The vertebral column surrounds the spinal cord which travels within the spinal canal, formed from a central hole within each vertebra. The spinal cord is part of the central nervous system that supplies nerves and receives information from the peripheral nervous system within the body. The spinal cord consists of grey and white matter and a central cavity, the central canal. Adjacent to each vertebra emerge
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