The anterior horn refers to the horn-shaped
anterior of the spinal cord that contains the anterior horn cells. These are extremely important as they are largely responsible for your
voluntary motor control. They pass messages from your spinal cord to your
muscles, and work closely with the brain via the
corticospinal tract.
Many diseases (especially genetic disorders) affect the anterior horn cells, including
polio,
ALS, and
SMA, among many others.