Directional Terms & Body Movements
Start with the big picture
Anatomical position anchors descriptions of direction and movement. From this reference, terms such as superior and inferior, medial and lateral, and proximal and distal describe relative locations; sagittal, coronal, transverse, and oblique planes describe ways to view or divide the body. Movement terms identify changes in joint angle, motion toward or away from the midline, rotation, and specific actions of the forearm, foot, hand, and other structures. Keeping paired terms distinct helps make anatomical descriptions precise—for example, flexion versus extension, abduction versus adduction, and inversion versus eversion. This topic connects those definitions to a practical vocabulary for describing body orientation and movement.
What you'll learn
- Use anatomical position as the reference for directional and movement terminology.
- Distinguish common directional pairs and identify their spatial relationships.
- Recognize the major planes of section used to describe body orientation.
- Differentiate movement terms by direction, body region, or change in joint angle.
Continue your study
Work through the complete notes and reinforce the topic with the study tools available in the full lesson.
