The human body is a beautiful and efficient system well worth study. In order to study and talk about anatomy and physiology, you need to be familiar with standard anatomic positions and anatomic terms, as well as the various planes and systems that make up the physical form.
Describing the Anatomic Position
To describe or talk about human anatomy, you need to start from an agreed-upon view of the human body. The anatomic position for the human form is the figure standing upright, eyes looking forward, upper extremities at the sides of the body with palms turned out.
Anatomic Terms
When you’re talking anatomy in a scientific way, everyday words such as front, back, side, above, and below just aren’t precise enough. Instead you use the anatomic terms in the following list:
- Anterior or ventral: Toward the front of the body
- Posterior or dorsal: Toward the back of the body
- Cranial: Head end of body
- Caudal: Tail end of body
- Superior: A part above another part
- Inferior: A part below another part
- Medial: Toward the midline (median plane) of the body
- Lateral: Away from the midline of the body; toward the sides
- Proximal: Toward the point of attachment to the body
- Distal: Away from the point of attachment to the body
- Internal: Toward the inside of the body
- External: Toward the outside of the body
- Parietal: A membrane that covers an internal body wall
- Visceral: A membrane that covers an organ
Anatomical Planes of the Body
You may not think about the planes of your body much, but you have them nonetheless, and if you’re talking or wanting to study anatomy, knowing the names of the planes comes in handy. The main planes and their sub-planes are in the following list:
- Sagittal: Plane that runs down through the body, dividing the body into left and right portions. Subsections of the sagittal plane include:
- Midsagittal runs through the median plane and divides along the line of symmetry
- Parasagittal is parallel to mid-line but does not divide into equal left and right portions.
- Coronal (frontal): Plane that runs perpendicular to the sagittal plane and divides the body into anterior and posterior (front and back) portions.
- Transverse: Horizontal plane that divides the body into upper and lower portions; also called cross-section.
READ MORE: Anatomical Terms of Movement
Scaravelli Inspired Yoga Teacher Catherine Annis
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Kensington Notting Hill, London, UK
