25/09/2020
• • • • • •
Anterior – Placed before or in front.
Posterior – Located behind a part or toward the rear of a structure.
Ventral – Synonymous with anterior.
Dorsal – Synonymous with posterior.
Proximal – Situated nearest to point of attachment or origin.
Distal – Situated farthest from point of attachment or origin, as of a limb or bone.
Medial – At, in, near, or being the center; dividing a person into right and left halves.
Lateral – Situated or extending away from the medial plane of the body.
Sagittal plane – A plane of movement split by the midline which breaks the body into left and right halves; applicable actions often involve flexion and extension and require a forward-backward movement of the body or joints (e.g., lunge).
Frontal plane – The plane of movement split by the midaxillary line which breaks the body into front and back halves; applicable actions often involve abduction and adduction and require side-to-side movement of the body or joints (e.g., lateral lunge).
Transverse Plane – The plane of movement which breaks the body into top and bottom halves (no dissection line is acknowledged); applicable actions often involve rotational movement of the body or joints (e.g., oblique twists).
Flexion – To bend; in hinge joints, the articulating bones move closer together; in ball-and-socket joints, the limb moves anterior to the midaxillary line.
Extension – To straighten or extend; in hinge joints the articulating bones move away from each other; in ball-and-socket joints, the limb moves posterior to the midaxillary line.
Abduction – Movement away from the midline.
Adduction – Movement toward the midline.
External rotation – Action where the articulating bone is rotated away from the body from anatomical position.
Internal rotation – Action where the articulating bone is rotated towards the body from anatomical position.
Rotation – The turning of a structure around its long axis.
