1.3: Directional Terms

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Rosanna Hartline
West Hills College Lemoore

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Directional Terms

With the body in anatomical position, there are specific terms to describe parts of the body with respect to each other. Please note that these terms are always used in reference to a body in anatomical position, regardless of that human body's actual position.

Directional Term	Meaning	Example
supine	lying face up	A person lying face up is in the supine position.
prone	lying face down	A person lying face down is in the prone position.
superior / cranial	above or higher up	The nose is superior (or cranial) to the chin.
inferior	below or lower down	The knees are inferior to the pelvis.
caudal	below or lower down - toward the tail bone from higher up	The pelvis is caudal to the stomach.
medial	toward the midline	The sternum is medial to the shoulders.
lateral	toward the side	The ears are lateral to the nose.
superficial	toward the body surface	The skin is superficial to the heart.
deep	toward the body core	The heart is deep to the ribs.
anterior / ventral	front or toward the front	The toes are anterior (or ventral) to the heel.
posterior / dorsal	back or toward the back	The spine is posterior (or dorsal) to the sternum.
proximal	for limbs only: closer to the shoulder (upper limb); closer to the hip (lower limb)	The elbow is proximal to the wrist.
distal	for limbs only: further from the shoulder (upper limb); further from the hip (lower limb)	The toes are distal to the knee.

A person lying stomach down and face down is in the prone position. Lying face up on the back is a person in the supine position.

Anatomical Directional terms

Two or more directional terms may be technically correct, however only certain directional terms will convey the most relevant information for a specific situation. For example, when discussing a brain tumor relative to the nose, it may be deep, dorsal and, lateral. When we ask, "Can we take a scalpel, shove it up the patient’s nasal cavity, and cut out the tumor?" it would not be appropriate to say, "No, it is too lateral," or "No, it is too dorsal." Instead, it would make the most sense to say, "No, it is too deep. We will have to cut through the skull to get to it."

Cross section shows the difference between deep and superficial.

Above: Cross section of the thigh.

Attributions

"Anatomy and Physiology Lab Reference" by Laird C Sheldahl, OpenOregonEducational Resources, Mt. Hood Community College is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
"BIOL 250 Human Anatomy Lab Manual SU 19" by Yancy Aquino, Skyline College is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Blausen 0019 AnatomicalDirectionalReferences.png by Blausen.com staff (2014). "Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014". WikiJournal of Medicine 1 (2). DOI:10.15347/wjm/2014.010. ISSN 2002-4436