NEURAL FORAMINAE

The spinal cord branches off into 31 pairs of nerve roots, which exit the spine through small openings on each side of the vertebra called neural foraminae (plural for foramina). The two nerve roots in each pair go in opposite directions when traveling through the foramina. One goes out the left foramen; the other goes out through the right foramina. The nerve root allows nerve signals to travel to and from your brain to the rest of your body.