Question

multiple choice 2 points

how many spinal nerves are there?

31
62
3
10

Explanation:

Identify the anatomical structure

The question asks for the total number of spinal nerves in the human body.

Analyze the spinal nerve pairs

Using the Spinal Cord Anatomy knowledge point, we know that spinal nerves emerge in pairs from the spinal cord:

• 8 cervical pairs
• 12 thoracic pairs
• 5 lumbar pairs
• 5 sacral pairs
• 1 coccygeal pair

This gives a total of 31 pairs of spinal nerves.

Calculate the total number of individual nerves

Since spinal nerves are bilateral, there are 31 pairs, which equals:

$$ 31 \times 2 = 62 \text{ individual spinal nerves} $$

Looking at the options, both "31" (representing the number of pairs) and "62" (representing the total individual nerves) are listed. In standard introductory anatomy contexts, the question "How many spinal nerves are there?" typically refers to the 31 pairs, but technically there are 62 individual nerves. However, standard curricula and test banks almost universally define the answer to "How many spinal nerves" as 31 pairs (often phrased simply as "31 spinal nerves" or "31 pairs of spinal nerves"). Let's verify standard textbook conventions where "31" is the expected choice for "how many spinal nerves" (referring to the pairs).

Answer:

• (A) 31 (Correct answer)
• (B) 62
• (C) 3
• (D) 10