There is an intermediate horn in the brainstem.

There is an intermediate horn in the brainstem.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Not applicable
• D. Both

Answer: (B)

The statement tests where autonomic motor neurons are organized in the nervous system. The intermediate horn (often called the intermediolateral cell column) is a feature of the spinal cord, specifically in the thoracic and upper lumbar segments, between the dorsal and ventral horns. It houses preganglionic sympathetic neurons. In the brainstem, you don’t find a structure called the intermediate horn; autonomic nuclei there are organized as cranial nerve nuclei and other autonomic centers, not as a spinal-style horn. So the claim is false because this specific gray-matter horn does not exist in the brainstem.

The statement tests where autonomic motor neurons are organized in the nervous system. The intermediate horn (often called the intermediolateral cell column) is a feature of the spinal cord, specifically in the thoracic and upper lumbar segments, between the dorsal and ventral horns. It houses preganglionic sympathetic neurons. In the brainstem, you don’t find a structure called the intermediate horn; autonomic nuclei there are organized as cranial nerve nuclei and other autonomic centers, not as a spinal-style horn. So the claim is false because this specific gray-matter horn does not exist in the brainstem.