dura mater
Outermost brain membrane
Dura mater is the tough, outermost membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord.
It forms a protective envelope beneath the skull and within the vertebral canal.
The term comes from Latin meaning "hard mother"—the ancients imagined the brain's membranes as maternal layers.
Medical contexts often shorten it to simply the dura: The surgeon cut through the dura to access the tumor.
Brain and cord coverings
- tentorium cerebelliDural partition shielding cerebellum
- cranial cavitySkull's interior chamber
- spinal canalHollow in backbone
- intracranialWithin the skull
Thin tissue sheet
- fibrousMade of threads
- collagenStructural body protein
- connective tissueSupportive biological matrix
- toughDurable and strong
protective · outer layer · sheath · covering · dense · inelastic · vascular · innervated
Membrane inflammation around brain
- subdural hematomaBlood between brain layers
- meningiomaTumor from protective brain layers
- lumbar punctureExtracting cerebrospinal fluid diagnostically
- spinal tapCerebrospinal fluid sampling procedure
epidural anesthesia · craniotomy · laminectomy · neurosurgery · spinal headache
Vertebral column's bottom segment
- cervical spineUpper vertebral column segment
- vertebral columnSegmented axial skeletal structure
- spinal nervesPaired vertebral neural branches
- nerve rootsSpinal cord branch points
meninges
Brain and cord coverings
- tentorium cerebelliDural partition shielding cerebellum
- cranial cavitySkull's interior chamber
- spinal canalHollow in backbone
membrane
Thin tissue sheet
- fibrousMade of threads
- collagenStructural body protein
- connective tissueSupportive biological matrix
tough · protective · outer layer · sheath · covering · dense · inelastic · vascular · innervated · thick
meningitis
Membrane inflammation around brain
- subdural hematomaBlood between brain layers
- meningiomaTumor from protective brain layers
- lumbar punctureExtracting cerebrospinal fluid diagnostically
spinal tap · epidural anesthesia · craniotomy · laminectomy · neurosurgery · spinal headache
lumbar spine
Vertebral column's bottom segment
- cervical spineUpper vertebral column segment
- vertebral columnSegmented axial skeletal structure
- spinal nervesPaired vertebral neural branches
nerve roots · coccyx · sacrum