Anatomical Terms Flashcards
Anatomical position: define and demonstrate the following basic terms relative to the anatomical position: medial, median, lateral, proximal, distal, superior, inferior, deep, superficial, palmar, plantar, anterior/ventral, posterior/dorsal, cephalic/cranial, rostral, caudal Anatomical planes: define and demonstrate the following basic anatomical planes: axial/transverse/horizontal, sagittal and coronal Movement: define and demonstrate the basic terms used to describe movement: flexion, extens
What does posterior and anterior refer to? What other terms describe these?
Anterior refers to the FRONT aka. Ventral. Posterior refers to the BACK aka. Dorsal.
What does lateral and medial refer to?
Medial means closer to the centre of the body. Lateral refers to something that is further away from the centre of the body.
What does cranial and caudal refer to? Alternative name?
Cranial = closer to the head aka cephalic. Caudal – closer to the tail.
What are the names of the anatomical positions in the feet? (x2)
Dorsal and plantar.
What are the names of the anatomical positions in the hands? (x4 and alternative name)
Palmar (aka volar), dorsal. Distal (means further away from the centre of the body OR point of attachment). Proximal (means closer to the centre of the body OR point of attachment).
What do the terms proximal and distal apply to?
Apply to limbs! Proximal meaning towards the body/point of attachment/median.
What are the three different planes of the body? (x3 alternative names)
Axial (aka transverse or horizontal), sagittal and coronal (aka frontal).
What is the convention with left and right side in cross-sectional imaging?
The CONVENTION for medical image: the right side of the image is the left side of the patient’s body; the left side of the image is the right side of the patient’s body. Imaging standing at the foot of a patient’s bed, looking up at them.
What is the anatomical position?
This is how the body is always described.
What does superior and inferior mean? Alternative names? (x3)
Superior refers to ‘above’ – aka cranial and rostral. Inferior refers to ‘below’ – aka caudal.
What does rostral refer to?
Situated or occurring near the front end of the body – especially the region of the nose and mouth. It is opposite to caudal.
What is median?
The midline i.e. the mid-sagittal.
What does superficial and deep refer to?
Superficial = on the surface. Deep = self-explanatory.
What does fossa refer to?
A shallow depression or hollow. e.g. axillary fossa = armpit.
What are the FUNCTIONAL divisions of the CNS?
Somatic – skin and skeletal muscles. Autonomic/visceral – organs AND parts of organs such as smooth muscle and glands.
What is the structure of a cross section of the spinal cord and its spinal nerves in C-L vertebrae?
Horns precede the root. Dorsal root contains just sensory fibres; dorsal ramus contains mixture. Same for ventral. A dorsal and ventral ramus contain a mixture of motor and sensory nerves (spinal nerves) and supply the posterior and anterior nerves respectively. Ventral ramus is larger because there is more anterior to the spinal cord than posterior to innervate.
What does flexion and extension describe?
Extension = straightening movement that increases the angle between body parts.
What does lateral flexion refer to?
Lateral flexion describes the bending movement of a body part in the lateral direction i.e. to the left or right. The lateral flexion concerns mainly torso or neck.
What does pronation and supination refer to?
Refers to forearm and hands: rotating forearm so that palm posterior and palm anterior are facing.
What does abduction and adduction refer to?
Abduction is the motion of a structure away from the midline while adduction refer to motion towards the centre of the body. Adductors refer to muscles that make the limbs adduct. Likewise, there are also muscles called abductors.
What does radial and ulnar deviation describe?
Radial/ulnar deviation are anatomical terms of motion that describe the movement of the wrist joint. Radial deviation is a movement that brings the thumb closer to the radial bone of the forearm (also called ABDUCTION). Ulnar deviation draws the little finger closer to the ulnar bone (also called ADDUCTION).
What does medial and lateral rotation refer to? Alternative names?
Medial – so the hands or feet point towards the midline. Internal rotation. Lateral – so the hands or feet point laterally. External rotation.
What does inversion and eversion refer to?
Inversion is a movement in which the plantar surface (sole) of the foot rotates towards the mid-line of the body.
What does plantarflexion and dorsiflexion refer to?
Plantar – occurs when the foot and toes are pointed down. Dorsi – occurs when the foot and toes are pulled up.
What does protraction and retraction refer to?
Protraction is movement of a body part in the anterior direction.
What is circumduction?
Refer to photo.
