Anatomical Terms Of Location

Question 1

Medial and Lateral

Answer 1

Medial means towards the midline, lateral means away from the midline.

Examples:

The eye is lateral to the nose.
The nose is medial to the ears.

Question 2

Anterior and Posterior

Answer 2

Anterior refers to the ‘front’, and posterior refers to the ‘back’. Putting this in context, the heart is posterior to the sternum because it lies behind it. Equally, the sternum is anterior to the heart because it lies in front of it.

Question 3

Superior and Inferior

Answer 3

These terms refer to the vertical axis. Superior means ‘higher’, inferior means ‘lower’. The head is superior to the neck; the umbilicus is inferior to the sternum.

Question 4

Proximal and Distal

Answer 4

The terms proximal and distal are used in structures that are considered to have a beginning and an end (such as the upper limb, lower limb and blood vessels). They describe the position of a structure with reference to its origin – proximal means closer to its origin, distal means further away.