This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Pia mater is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
| Pia mater | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Diagrammatic transverse section of the medulla spinalis and its membranes. (At border, dura mater is black line, arachnoid mater is blue line, and pia mater is red line.) | |
 |
|
| The medulla spinalis and its membranes. | |
| Gray's | subject #193 878 |
| MeSH | Pia+Mater |
The pia mater (Latin: "tender mother", itself a translation from Arabic) is the delicate innermost layer of the meninges - the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
The thin, mesh-like pia mater closely envelops the entire surface of the brain, running down into the fissures of the cortex. It joins with the ependyma which lines the ventricles to form choroid plexuses that produce cerebrospinal fluid.
In the spinal cord, the Pia mater attaches to the Dura mater by the denticular ligaments through the arachnoid membrane.
The pia mater is a neural crest derivative.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 5 October 2008, at 22:08.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Pia mater".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.