The panel to the right shows cross sections through the neural tube. The exact locations of these sections will be shown in a subsequent step. For now realize that all three images are similar because cuts through the neural tube at this point are relatively similar. Making the three dimensional image see through and rotating it slightly allows us to view some internal features of the neural tube.

Visible and light blue is the fluid filled chamber of the neural tube, the neural canal. Dorsal to the neural canal two rods of cells called the alar columns are shown in purple, while the basal columns in green lie ventral to the neural canal.