neural tube n the hollow longitudinal dorsal tube that is formed by infolding and subsequent fusion of the opposite ectodermal folds in the vertebrate embryo and gives rise to the brain and spinal cord
* * *
the embryological structure from which the brain and spinal cord develop. It is a hollow tube of ectodermal tissue formed when two edges of a groove in a plate of primitive neural tissue (neural plate) come together and fuse. Failure of normal fusion results in a number of congenital defects (see neural tube defects).
* * *
the neuroepithelial tube developed from the neural plate and forming the central nervous system of the embryo; called also medullary t. and cerebromedullary t.Medical dictionary. 2011.