Anatomical Terms Of Location In Embriological Anatomy

Question 1

Cephalic (Cranial) and Caudal

Answer 1

Cephalic refers to the head of the embryo, while caudal refers to the tail (inferior) end. Cranial is often used instead of cephalic when describing a location of one structure relative to another.

Examples:

The vitelline duct lies caudally to the primitive brain.
The foregut is cranial to the midgut.

Question 2

Ventral and Dorsal

Answer 2

The term ventral refers to the anterior (front) aspect of the embryo, while dorsal refers to the posterior (back).

Examples

The gut tube lies ventrally to the spinal cord.
The spinal cord is dorsal to the developing trachea

Question 3

Rostral and Caudal

Answer 3

Rostral and caudal are only used to describe structures within the central nervous system, above the level of the spinal cord (e.g brainstem, cerebrum and cerebellum). They are more commonly used in neuroanatomy, but can be applied to embryology.

Rostral refers to the anterior (front) aspect of the head. In this context, caudal refers to the posterior (back) of the head.

Examples:

The forebrain is rostral to the midbrain.

Question 4

Ventral and Dorsal (Neurological)

Answer 4

Ventral refers to the inferior region of the brain, while dorsal refers to the superior region (towards the scalp).