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| Neural tube | |
|---|---|
 Transverse section of half of a chick embryo of forty-five hours' incubation. The dorsal (back) surface of the embryo is toward the top of this page, while the ventral (front) surface is toward the bottom. (Neural tube is in green.) | |
 Chick embryo of thirty-three hours' incubation, viewed from the dorsal aspect (30x magnification) | |
| Details | |
| Carnegie stage | 10 |
| Precursor | Neural groove |
| Gives rise to | Central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) |
| Identifiers | |
| Latin | tubus neuralis, tuba neuralis |
| MeSH | D054259 |
| TE | tube_by_E5.14.1.0.0.0.1 E5.14.1.0.0.0.1 |
| Anatomical terminology | |
In the developing chordate (including vertebrates), the neural tube is the embryonic precursor to the central nervous system, which is made up of the brain and spinal cord. The neural groove gradually deepens as the neural folds become elevated, and ultimately the folds meet and coalesce in the middle line and convert the groove into the closed neural tube. In humans, neural tube closure usually occurs by the fourth week of pregnancy (the 28th day after conception).
