Top Brachial Plexus Flashcards

The brachial plexus (pl. “plexi’) is a dense network of nerve fibers running from sides of your neck down through the fronts of your shoulders. It carries most of the signals that run from your arms to and from your brain – and that’s a lot of signals! Human beings have extremely sensitive hands and fingers, so there are thousands of individual nerve endings all sending sensory signals back to the brain, and at the same time other nerves have to carry motor signals back to the fine muscles of the hands. As I sit and type this, my brachial plexi are crackling with nerve signals, some telling my fingers how to move and others reporting the sensation of keys against my fingertips.

Because it’s so important for hand and arm function, the brachial plexus is a very important part of the body medically. Injuries to the brachial plexus can cause serious problems and even paralysis of an entire arm.
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