The meninges are the membranes that surround the central nervous system: the brain and spinal cord, the intracranial portion of the cranial nerves and the spinal nerve roots. From the surface to the depth, we distinguish the dura mater, the arachnoid and the piea mater.

The meningeal cells surround the brain and actively participate in the development of the central nervous system. They play an important role in the stabilization of the extracellular matrix of the pial surface, the organization of the radial glial scaffold and the stratification of the cerebellar cortex. Passive pharmacological destruction of meningeal cells during a critical ontogenetic period results in specific malformation of the cerebellar cortex and dentate gyrus. Transplantation of meningeal cells, which are derived from the meninges overlying the cerebral cortex, into adult rat spinal cord lesions promotes axonal regrowth. In addition, in vitro studies have shown that meningeal cells chemically direct the migration of immature neurons but not of glial cells.